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patchun · 3 years

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WBaWC Deep Dive: Part 1/2

Lots of philosophical ideas are presented and explored in this game. In this post I aim to point them out. ZUN stated this in his SCooW interview:

"There isn't any sort of obvious theme to the story this time. It's mainly just an introduction of "there's a world like this out there". There's a variety of things going into that world, particularly satire, but if you ask what the work wants to show you, there isn't much in particular. "Here's this world called the Animal Realm, and here's these various elements spread throughout it."

And after doing a ton of digging... yeah, I think he's right. I was kind of hoping there would be something unintentional, but because the perspectives of the human and beast spirits aren't really shown, and only the spirits of their rulers, taking an actual message away from this game is very difficult. That said, I feel with this game more than any other, it's very easy to identify why certain decisions were made. Why is the first boss a stillborn child? Isn't that pretty random? No, let's look into it.

The story this time is quite complicated, so you may not be able to see the whole picture if you just play as one character. To be fair, you may not be able to do so even if you clear them all. (lol)

This will obviously be based on my own interpretation. Long post ahead.

Eika Ebisu. The soul of a stillborn child, and a master of stacking stones. Importantly:

She and the rest of the stillborn child spirits at Sai no Kawara stack stones as work every day. They stack stones as work, in Shinto mythology this is as repentance - because they brought sorrow to their parents by dying too early. Kind of morbidly amusing, I guess, but ZUN makes it a point to say this:

She's also a god of fortune who's able to change simple, pointless work into something that's enjoyable and worth doing, and who can make the best out of any bad situation.

Her ever-cheery demeanor, bright intellect, and penchant for constantly holding exciting new events like stone-stacking contests makes her the Sai no Kawara's resident idol, beloved by all the children's spirits there.

With the spirits of stillborns, yes. I feel like it's more hopeful to portray them as having fun in the afterlife, you know?

Being a god of fortune, Eika is able to make stone stacking FUN. The simple labor of stacking stones for these kids is no longer labor for repentance, but a game, thanks to her (NOTE: labor.) For that reason she is the resident "idol". She is probably the most healthy idol in the game, according to the ideology ZUN seems to be presenting, but we'll get into that later. There's more to this character.

In philosophical discussions of animal rights, when we ask "what is it that makes humans worthy of moral rights", we try to find a criteria. Something that humans have that nothing else does. That criteria then needs to be defended as being a good reason for humans to have moral rights. Used to, sentience was the argument made for human uniqueness. Humans are sentient and conscious, while animals are, in Descartes' scummy terms (sorry, I hate Descartes) "mere automata". We worked on this assumption from that idiot for years, but recently it has been scientifically proven that animals, at LEAST mammals, birds, crustaceans, cephalopods, and reptiles, are sentient, and it is summarized in a document called the Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness.

So this proves a problem for those who believe animals aren't worthy of moral rights. So then, what else do humans have that animals don't? Why are we special in deserving moral rights? Well, that would be our intelligence, right! Even the smartest animals are only about as smart as a five year old (this is not actually true but let's just pretend it is, they're smarter). But then, if intelligence is the criteria for moral rights, then what exactly is the system here? Does that mean that children are less worthy of moral rights than adults because they aren't as intelligent? Does this mean that people who mentally disabled and not viewed as "intelligent" by parts of the populace should be less deserving of moral treatment?

This has been a veryyy simplified summary of the discussion, but here's where it gets even more interesting. You see, here, two controversial ethical topics meet - abortion and animal rights. Because if you want to argue that sentience OR intelligence are the criteria for moral rights, then in either case, early fetuses absolutely do not have moral rights! This is a problem for anti-abortion arguers, which is a funny intersection in my opinion. I bring this up because, of course, while Eika is not an aborted fetus as far as I know, she is still a fetus. She is quite out of place in a game where the rest of the opponents up to Keiki are animal spirits, right? But no, the fetus and children in general actually have a very philosophically interesting place in animal rights discussions, because oftentimes to argue that animals are not deserving of moral rights you also have to take away the moral rights of children. In case this whole thing has left you confused, the side I took was that sentience IS the criteria for moral rights, meaning both animals and children have moral rights, while fetuses don't.

Now, what does Eika tell us about this? Well, nothing. Just that ZUN seems to have thought about it, really. But there are two keywords that apply broadly to WBaWC as a whole when talking about Eika:

Labor

Moral value

So let's continue.

Urumi Ushizaki. Seeing a farm animal after a stillborn child really set off some alarms. Her name translates to "moist beauty". Not sure I needed to know that, but I came across it in my research so now you do too.

She carries a stone carving of a baby. Once she gives the baby to someone to hold, she makes it heavier and submerges them in the river. She was an awe-inspiring youkai who took advantage of humans' kindness. However, since she's forbidden to attack humans in Gensokyo, she currently runs a fishery at the Sanzu River.

If one tries to cross the river without a shinigami's permission, they'll be attacked by creatures like extinct giant fish and plesiosaurs. Nowadays, she spends her time domesticating those giant fish, and makes a living wage by sometimes selling them in Gensokyo.

A baby then a cow with a baby. Urumi is the "Parental Guardian of Ancient Fish". She apparently domesticates them and makes a living wage (interesting terminology?) sometimes selling them to Gensokyo. But, it's implied that as a fisher, she actually cares about these fish. In Reimu (Wolf)'s story:

Reimu: I'm fine, thanks. If it's just fish I'll have to deal with, I'll filet 'em no problem.

Urumi: That so? Fine by me, then. I won't hold back when I turn you into food for my beloved ancient fish!

When Reimu threatens her fish, Urumi gets defensive. She refers to her fish as "beloved" and suggests valuing them over the protagonist, even though she isn't supposed to attack humans. In the SCooW interview, ZUN is asked, more or less, what's up with the fish in the Sanzu river? He responds:

It's full of fish that died, or went extinct. They can't go to Hell or the Netherworld after they die, you see... since fish and insects are in a bit of a separate category, the way I think about it.

So, remember that distinction we made earlier when talking about Ebisu? How the animals that have been proven to be sentient are mammals, birds, reptiles (cephalopods, crustaceans)? That excludes fish and insects, and here, ZUN makes that distinction as well. Fish sentience is still pretty up in the air at the moment. But that said, if there's any unintentional message in WBaWC, I suppose it would be here.

The fact that Urumi is able to domesticate these ancient fish in the first place implies a certain degree of sentience, and moreso, even without that, Urumi pretty clearly ascribes moral value to her fish in Reimu (Wolf)! In almost all routes, she defends her fish and suggests she'll feed the protagonist to them, but Reimu(Wolf) makes it the most clear that she actually cares about them. Which, when you think about it, of course you'll care about the things you domesticate.

Also Urumi's design is so cool and yet no one draws her anymore. Justice for Moist Beauty. There is more to be said about the livestock theme of this character, but we'll get back to that when we talk about Yachie's profile.

Kuwaka Niwatari.

Her true identity is that of Niwatarijin, the god of wild chickens from before they were domesticated. People tend to think of chickens as being sort of weak and cowardly, but she's a polite and just god who values equality and altruism above all. She's quietly considering what she can do to help raise the status of chickens, who've been reduced to a food source for humans.

If you've been following along so far, you probably understand already where this is going. A few words may stand out here. Domestication, equality and altruism above all, status, and "food source for humans."

Kutaka is probably the blatantly nicest character in WBaWC, who tests you because she's worried that if you go further, you'll be hurt (after winning, of course, the protagonists insult her). There's not just a ton to say about Kutaka's character itself, but there is this tidbit in ZUN's interview:

Chickens don't usually have a very positive image attached to them. Calling someone a "chicken" certainly doesn't make them sound strong either, right? And the only other common impression of them is as food, so I tried to give her a dignified feeling.

So, ZUN has deliberately designed Kutaka to be dignified, noted that she is a character who values equality and altruism, and included that one of her motivations is to raise the status of chickens who have been "reduced to a food source for humans." What's fascinating is that by creating Kutaka this way, he has given us a message - ZUN believes, to a degree, that Kutaka's motivation is a just one. Kutaka is intended TO raise the status of chickens. So let me say this. To those of you who made fucking chicken wing jokes after this character was revealed:

STOP. FUCK YOU. STOP.

If you'd like to repent, you can start by stacking stones. Trust me, it's fun!

Now, all of this is cool, but part 2 is where it's going to get interesting - when we finally get to Yachie's profile, the description of the "Animal Realm" of Hell. I'm excited, but I need to make dinner. Part 2 coming soon.

#touhou #th17 #wily beast and weakest creature #eika ebisu #urumi ushizaki #kuwaka niwatari #philosophy #animal ethics #reblogs appreciated greatly #patchunslibrary

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anxiouslyfred · 3 years

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Calm Down Stories

Summary: Remus wishes his telepathic link with his soulmate helped him calm Virgil down in ways beyond telling stories, but it works. Today he tries helping a stranger in a music shop at the same time by talking about a CD cover to them, and sending his words over the telepathic link.

/\/\

'Can't do this. Too loud, too busy. Can't, can't can't' Remus wished that he knew how to help, really help Virgil, especially when these repetitions began to echo through their connection. He'd tried looking up what helps anxiety, methods soulmates had used before meeting in the past.

Virgil had only panicked more when he'd tried using them, terrified that he was harming or annoying Remus with his fears, worries, everything.

Later they had spoken about it, covered that Remus had only wanted to help, support him since he couldn't take the anxiety away but also that he hadn't sounded like himself to Virgil while following those methods. Besides as soon as he knew it wasn't helping Virgil, he'd returned to his usual method of trying to help with his soulmates panic, imagining stories, and adventures he'd gone on, or thought sounded fun.

Remus knew that was all just distractions though, nothing that actually helped long term. Their telepathy thankfully hid his wishes to do more, even just talk through the struggles Virgil had when overwhelmed so he projected stories about his day, and compliments, so many compliments about the things Virgil let slip through in his thoughts.

'You somewhere safe to calm down in? Or still stuck among the madding crowd?' Remus asked, already heading into the nearest shop. It was always easier to come up with a story if he didn't have to worry about walking into strangers constantly. Their yelling could filter through to Virgil and make things worse if he did walk into them.

'Music Shop. Can't move, can't hide, can't can't can't cope, all too much, going to have people staring at me.' On one hand Remus could start trying to come up with some distraction story, on the other, if Virgil was already worrying about getting stares that usually meant he needed someone actually with him to calm down alongside the thoughts Remus could send to him. They'd already mentioned this morning that they were both out picking up some new accessories and clothes alone today.

He glanced around the shop hoping for something he could twist into a bizarre story, more confusing than a surrealism painting and realised that he was in a music shop too, with plenty of CD cases to take inspiration from and a guy in a hoodie clinging to one of the shelves as though the world was ending...

A guy looking like the world was ending could probably use a distraction just as much as Virgil needed on too so Remus had a focus and a way to start chattering away. The display the man had stopped at had some weird album art on it.

“Hey Fella, can I get to those CD's in front of ya?” He asked, trying to pantomime reaching around him without breaching any personal space the man might need.

He got a panicked look and a stumble out of the way for that, but picked up on of the cases anyway, raising an eyebrow. “Are you breathing there, Honey? I would help more but have been told I suck at leading breathing patterns. Or rather that I'm too impatient to count slowly in whatever way they need.” Remus just let any thoughts that crossed his mind and would be okay for Virgil to hear while panicking be said. He knew that quite often if he spoke things they'd get sent over their bond as thoughts too, and really didn't want to make either his soulmate or this stranger worse.

The man did attempt to take a deep breath at his words though, so Remus classed that as a win and waved the CD case up. “You know, Fella, I always wonder what the story could be behind album art like this. Seriously half of music nowadays is all love, sex, money, or escaping to nature. I bet none of the songs even mention a bat, let alone an octopus so why put them on a cover.” Really he could have found a worse cover to talk about, but this would do.

Virgil was quiet, no repetitions of 'Can't' to be heard for the moment and the panicking man was just nodding, clearly still upset, but definitely trying to breathe to some pattern Remus couldn't fathom.

“Then again, why would a bat even be flying over the ocean? It doesn't seem like something they'd do. I mean sure, birds migrate, and there's gotta be some bats that live in seaside town. Literally enough books and films set in England mention bats that it has to be like a given some are near the sea. That island is tiny.” Remus now had to get the CD if only so he'd remember to look up ocean bats later on. If they existed he wanted to know everything, including the weirdest things they eat. Can bats prey on fish?

“Some in Mexico migrate and hunt at sea.” The man breathed out, sounding shaky and half terrified of actually joining in with Remus's conversation.

He nodded in thanks, now frowning at the other animal on the screen. “Still, pretty unrealistic for an octopus to be that vibrantly yellow in the middle of the night. Practically all cephalopods have some ability to change their colour and that bright near the surface. It's basically putting up a sign saying ' I'm here, hunt me' to any predators near the surface. Although maybe it's more trying to get the gift delivered to it and would go to darker shade as soon as that box is actually in its grasp.”

“Why would a bat be taking presents to an octopus anyway?” Remus blinked at the question. It was one he'd expected to have thought at him, if Virgil was starting to calm down at least, but instead the stranger had asked it.

Mentally he thought threw bringing the bat bombs he'd read about once up, but shook the thought away, shrugging and carrying on wriggling. “Could be any reason. Perhaps bats are the animal worlds equivalent to Santa, only instead of one man in a sleigh you have hundreds or millions of these fluffy little friends flying around trying to give presents on like midsummer or something. Can't have a winter celebration for the animals when tons of them are hibernating.”

“Would be more animals on the picture if that was the case. Could just be the octopus and bat are friends.” Remus looked at the man again, staring for a moment as he spoke. There was still a shake to his breaths but they were slow again, and his hands weren't tensing for something to grip onto.

“Well now I just want to know how a bat and an octopus would become friends. It can't be easy given one lives literally under the sea and the other in caves or treetops and flies everywhere.” He exclaimed, getting a snort, before focusing on his thoughts. 'Hey Virge, You've gone quiet there. Are you calming down or has something happened?'

The man he'd been helping to calm down at the same time smirked, “Who are humans to limit what friendships animals can make? I'm more curious over what gift they would share.”

“Well that's easy, things the octopus couldn't get normally but might like to eat. Some other types of insects or whatever.” Remus suggested, now frowning as he still got no response.

“Is something wrong? I thought your story from this CD cover was going really well. Have I upset you trying to join in with it?” The man asked, worried again as he watched Remus.

He shook his head, “No, your ideas are brilliant, awesome actually. I just, well my soulmate was upset too so part of the story was for you, partly for him, but now I'm not getting any response.” Remus tried to wave away the concern, already thinking again 'Virgil, please just a random I've been knocked out and thoughts aren't awake response would be wonderful right now.'

The man frowned too, “That could just mean you've... Give me a moment to try contacting my soulmate cause you're right. He'd normally have been telling me some weird story but instead you were here talking and I don't think I've heard from him for a bit.” Remus didn't need to ask what the broken off sentence meant. He'd have lost the telepathy if he had met his soulmate, and the only person that would qualify for that was this man.

He waited for a moment, watching as the man closed his eyes, before staring at him again. “So is your soulmate called Virgil?”

“Is your soulmate called Remus?” He countered, beginning to bounce in place again.

“Yes, oh bloody hell, you accidentally managed to find me, mid panic attack and still decided to help me calm down? You're insane, what if I was dangerous or something?” Virgil exclaimed, shoving at Remus's chest lightly.

Remus just started laughing, grabbing the arm that shoved him to pull Virgil into a hug. “Somehow I don't think anyone dangerous would be frozen clinging to a display in a music shop. Come on, You need food and hot chocolate after that freak out, and I need as much sugar as I can fit into a drink. There's a cafe a few shops down.”

He didn't release the hug while making that decision, and only snickered when Virgil half heartedly attempted to pull away. “If we're going there you need to let me go, and pay for that CD.”

“Hmm, maybe in a bit. I've wanted to wrap you up in hugs when you're upset for all our lives so you can enjoy the longest hug ever before we move.” Remus declared, tightening one arm while the other came up to pet Virgil's hair.

Perhaps he wouldn't normally have helped a stranger calm down but he couldn't be more please that he had today.

#dukexiety #soulmate au #remus sanders #virgil sanders #panic attack #bats #octopuses

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etheshadowlord · 3 years

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UNPROFESSIONAL REVIEW OF EVERY POWER RANGERS EPISODE I CAN FIND PART 3!

Spoilers ahead for episodes 11-16. It's been a while I hope this post finds you...I don't know what state it will find you in but it could be Connecticut for all we know. Anyway, it's been a long time so I had to back up pull these out of the drawer and dust them off. I"ve mostly finished season 1 already at this point and started season 2 because the filler was getting to me and then I realized, life is far too short to get impatient. So time to slow down and reflect.

As well as subject ourselves to this madness.

Episode 11: No clowning around.

We start the episode off with Kimberly, Zack, Billy, and Jason at the Angel Grove Fair with Zack showing his hip-hop stilt dancing....yeah no it doesn't really work that well and he takes a short spill only to quickly reveal today's Villain, evil imposter clowns. Meanwhile, we see Trini bringing the kid of the day....her cousin.

Kids are cute, clowns are wholesome and nothing bad could possibly happen. Right.....so short fact I love clowns. I hate evil and monster clowns because they give the noble profession a bad name anyway whoever Pineapple the clown is, the clown council is probably greatly displeased with them.

Bulk and Skull enter the picture to tease the main team and get egg on their face. The eggs came from Billy attempting to juggle eggs on offer from the villainous clown Pineapple...Not sure but it's the thing today I guess.

So we get a segue to hearing the Gloriously Evil plan for her repulsiveness. Magical Pineoctopus that turns people into cardboard cutouts and....a...fake....fair? You know if magic stuff wasn't involved I would question how the fuck the police aren't shutting these stunts down before people get hurt. I wonder if there's just an "it's not my problem" field on these things.

So the monster of the week flattens Sylvia and the rangers convince the park goers to leave thus begins the fight. Meanwhile, Trini saves Sylvia with some water and then rejoins the Rangers in time to Put this clown down....for good. Okay, he's a fruit cephalopod but that's beside the point. End of the episode Vignette and we learn never to go with strange clowns.....or strangers period.

Fun: * * * - -

Rita: Mad

These Clowns: Failures.

Episode 12: Power Ranger Punks

We start this episode with a reminder that Baboo...

This person is actually capable of evil as well. Though not skilled at the practice of monster molding, his specialty seems to be making potions. In this case, ones to make Kimberly and Billy into....Punks.

Meanwhile, Rita unleashes the Terror Toad while they try to figure a way to correct their friends' bad behavior. Through an antidote. It works they beat the toad with a well-aimed arrow to the mouth and save the day. Sorry Baboo, no villain star today for you.

Baboo: Great alchemist....also where'd you get the Rattlesnake Lips? Share your sources please and thanks.

Drinks: Don't leave open drinks Also don't drink open drinks if you're a hero. Even if it was fine earler.

Punk: Not dead.

Episode 13: Peace, Love, and Woe.

So we start off with both Bulk and Skull causing chaos and with Rita demanding Finster to make her....Madame Woe, who is apparently almost as evil as Rita herself. Huh... also love strikes when you least expect it. Billy ends up falling for Marge who asks him to the dance and...Marge gets mistaken for a Power Ranger.

Clearly, because Rita didn't give her loyal servant the proper intel. So yeah Marge and the rangers get zapped into Madam Woe's funky dimension of Woe where she is all-powerful and send the Blue Ranger back to beat her in One on One combat, Madam Woe is defeated and we get a vignette of learning....that Bulk stores his money in his shoe.

Knowledge: Cursed.

Fun: * * * * -

Woe: - - - - -

Episode 14: Foul Play in the Sky.

We start the episode by meeting Kimberly's Uncle Steve who is a pilot and a sleeping potion.

Rita, if Monsters can't kill the power dweebs then what about flat-out gruesome murder. In fact, why hasn't she just poisoned them with a deadly poison at this point? Is it the fact she wants to look upon them as they despair? Is that the game here?

Anyway, Steve is put to sleep and Kimberly lands a plane all the while Bulk and Skull are in the back passed out because obviously you'd faint hearing that the pilot is out like a light and you're probably going to die. Rita's monster of the week is a snake man thing that fires power-draining snakes.

The plane lands and Kimberly shows us some real archery skills with a regular William Tell signature move. And we end the episode on a light note of Shakes on Bulk and Skull.

Fun: * * *- -

Plane controls: * * * * -

Rita: Wanted for attempted murder through sabotage.

Episode 15: Dark Warrior.

So another family member makes a one-time appearance. Trini's Uncle Howard is a brilliant scientist. He even made an invisibility formula. And Bulk and Skull decide to pick on Billy for....quarters for a dumb arcade...game?

Actually, we've seen Billy do some really stellar martial arts so why is he putting up with this? Seriously?

Uncle Howard shows up and....isn't wearing his glasses as he's looking for his niece. So he dumbly puts the formula on the counter. This will cause trouble later I can tell. Also, Rita sends a new monster out to find this formula. The labeled Dark Warrior. Looks more like Camo with a scarf to me. I mean invisibility can also mean camouflaging.

So Dark Warrior being a sadistic monster captures Howard, then tries to extort the formula from Trini. They fight the dark warrior and defeat him with the combined power of friendship and giant robots. Then we see Bulk and Skull get a taste of their own medicine as Uncle Howard shows off the invisibility formula that apparently can be drunk and affects your clothes as well? Weird.

Science: - - - - - WE DON'T WATCH THIS FOR ACCURATE SCIENCE!

Fun: * * * * -

Boxes: Marked with TNT Like this was Minecraft.

Episode 16: Switching Places.

You'll never know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes is usually how the saying goes. I think it works better if they were them for a week. You really get to know someone's life after a week of having to do things the way they do things.

Anyway, we start this episode with Squatt being the little Gremlin he is messing with Billy's Invention....the machine in question is a Machine to allow someone to read your mind...

So first mistake not going through the line of making sure everything is right before the experiment. Secondly, human experimentation is a bit....questionable in ethics.

Anyways, Kimberly and Billy get Switched. Like you know....body swapped. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHECK THINGS BEFORE THE EXPERIMENT!

....The same also happens to Bulk and Skull.

All while this is going on Squatt unleashes a mighty Genie to fight the rangers. Guess it doesn't subscribe to the classic Genie Rules. However, the true power of the genie is in the lamp...obviously and Alpha defeats the genie by zapping it to...wherever he zapped it to. We close out the episode with everyone getting their minds back in their own bodies even Bulk and Skull sorta learn their lesson.

Switch: eroo

Genie: Wished out.

Skull: Pretty dull still.

Thus ends part 3 of this synoptic unprofessional review of every power rangers episode that I can get a hold of at least on Netflix. The next part will be the Green With EVIL special. Hence why I went with six episodes for this part because it's a five-parter coming up. Until then, see you in the next post.

#Power Rangers #unprofessional review #this is for fun #The show is campy and I haven't done these in a while and was bored #I still like the Power Rangers #really these are more like me giving my own commentary on these episodes but that's fine I'm allowed to post what I want on my blog

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rwby-redux · 4 years

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Deconstruction

Worldbuilding: Geography

Full disclosure: I hated doing this post. Not because the writing was difficult or the topic was boring—far from it. No, the reason I hated doing this was because I got sucked into a wikihole. I started out researching climate zones, and ten hours later I was reading an article about Icelandic hot spring rye bread (which is called hverabrauð by the way and you should absolutely check it out). I only realized what time it was when I looked out my window and saw the sun starting to rise. Try to picture what my sleep schedule has looked like for the last few days, and you can see why I might be just a smidge upset.

Sorry. Where was I?

Ah, yes: geography. The bane of cartographers everywhere. If you’ve ever dabbled in writing stories with a non-Earth setting, you’ll know that one of the most fundamental aspects of worldbuilding is the lay of the land. Even before you’ve started working on the cultures of your fictional people (or hell, even the plot), you need to develop the locations. Any writer worth their salt will correctly tell you that geography dictates who the characters are, what the story’s about, when major actions occur, where the major story beats take place, why things progress the way they do, and how certain steps are achieved.

Want an example of this? Take a look at the geography of Avatar: The Last Airbender and how it influenced the Fire Nation’s culture and resulting imperialistic conquest: [1]

A geographic map of Avatar: The Last Airbender depicting the four major countries: the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, and Air Temples. | Source: Imgur.

The Fire Nation, being located on a volcanic archipelago, was able to jumpstart its industrial revolution decades before anyone else, courtesy of access to natural resources such as coal and metal ore deposits (which were disproportionately scarcer in the other countries). This abundance of minerals was reflected in gold being commonly incorporated into Fire Nation royal attire, and the Fire Nation boasting some of the most proficient blacksmiths and swordfighters in the world (like Piandao).

Being an island nation, their culinary staples included aquatic and marine species such as waterfowl, fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, bivalves, and seaweed.

The mountainous regions of the Fire Nation made the land ill-suited for agriculture, which likely influenced the development of an oceanic trade route. This allowed for the import of otherwise-unavailable resources from the Earth Kingdom.

The trade route helped to reinforce a unified state by connecting all seaports, trading outposts, and settlements in the archipelago to the major urban capital. This interconnectivity created economic advantages, and solidified a sense of cultural unity and loyalty to the nation by making communication (via ship and messenger hawk) direct and expedient.

The navy emerged as a natural outgrowth of the oceanic trade route. Martial vessels would have been necessary for protecting merchant ships from pirates, collecting taxes from provincial settlements (because navies have steep operating costs), and enforcing the laws of the central authority. Similarly, as an island country, the only way the Fire Nation could have feasibly been harmed is through a naval attack, which would have given it the incentive to cultivate a naval defense.

At the beginning of the Hundred Year War, the Fire Nation seized control of the northwestern Earth Kingdom because the region was rich in resources that they would need to sustain themselves if they were going to survive without international trade.

Their technologically-advanced navy and control of the major oceanic trade routes allowed the Fire Nation to orchestrate blockades, quickly transport troops and equipment between places, and limit the tactical movements of the other countries.

To say that geography dictates the story is an understatement—without it, the story wouldn’t exist. Good writing and likeable characters can only do so much to save a story that lacks this crucial component of worldbuilding.

So, how does this apply to RWBY?

In order to talk about that, first we have to address the unusual way that Remnant’s map was designed.

Back in 2012, while out at an IHOP with Shane Newville, Monty Oum had the idea of squirting a ketchup bottle into a napkin, crumpling it up, and then unfolding it to reveal the blotchy proto-topography of Remnant. His reason for doing so, as he explains:

“The philosophy behind [making the map that way] is that, I feel like, as a 3D animator […] utilizing all this technology, our process—all these computers, all these numbers and stuff—our process is so artificial, it’s riddled with so much artifice, that not only for that, but for everything else I do, I try to imbue kind of like an anarchy, an anarchic-like chaos, just to give it some sense of, like, randomness. Like, you need to preserve that sense of chaos because the process we do is so robotic. […] But the important thing was, like especially with everything that we just raise in our production value, that you have to preserve that anarchic energy that influences everything you do.” [2]

The original terrain map created by Monty Oum. | Source: RWBY Wiki contributor user:Sgt D Grif.

You’d be hard-pressed to disagree with the artistic merit of this design approach. There’s a simplistic elegance to be found in a creator forfeiting a degree of their control over a project, in order to watch how it might organically evolve.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t like leaving slime molds in a petri dish and letting them network until they resemble Japanese subway lines. While anarchic chaos can work for some disciplines of art, it creates glaring issues when applied to worldbuilding. Nature, although it appears outwardly random, is actually rather ordered. The reason why we don’t leave our houses every day carrying umbrellas is because we don’t have to—we have meteorologists that can anticipate the forecast days or weeks ahead. Plenty of natural phenomena can be predicted: weather systems over vast areas, environmental selection pressures converging on similar traits…

And, of course, plate tectonics.

You see, the problem with Monty’s method is that it didn’t account for the movement of Remnant’s continents. Because the planet’s continents were born from artistic randomness rather than methodical and deliberate forethought, we have no reliable access to certain information, like atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, or plate boundaries. All three of these planetary subsystems—the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere—and their dynamics shape the geography of a planet.

Without this information, we can’t answer certain questions.

Was Lake Matsu formed by glacial retreat?

Are Vale’s mountains sitting on a convergent plate boundary? Or are they more like the Appalachians, which are the remains of the Central Pangean Mountains?

If Vale’s mountains were formed by convergent plate boundaries, then why don’t we see evidence of it in the forms of volcanism and earthquakes?

Is Vacuo’s interior desert formed by a rain shadow?

If Solitas’ geography is based on a polar ice cap, then how did early settlers survive long enough to excavate the Dust? How would they have dug through the ice and permafrost?

Has climate change ever resulted in changes in sea level that submerged or exposed the continents? Did early humans and Faunus move between continents by land bridges? Have rises in sea level ever hidden continents (like Earth’s Zealandia)?

Does Mistral’s capital rely on meltwater from the surrounding mountains for irrigating crops?

When the Younger Brother shattered the moon, did the lunar debris alter the landscape when it fell to Remnant? Was it like the Chicxulub asteroid that caused the K-Pg extinction? Did the lunar debris leave craters on the planet’s surface, or cause phenomena like impact winters and ocean acidification?

It bears mentioning that these questions pertain to real-life geographic concepts. This isn’t even touching upon fictional geographic concepts that RWBY introduced, like largescale Dust deposits altering the local environment in such a way that it functionally becomes its own ecosystem (like Lake Matsu’s floating islands). We’re also assuming that RWBY’s continental plates are capable of drift, and weren’t magically glued in place by the gods during the formation of the planet.

Given the scale of these problems, I think it’s safe to say that—while I can appreciate the artistry behind Monty’s design philosophy—the way he designed Remnant ultimately did more harm than good.

While I could spend all afternoon debating the pros and cons of condiment cartography, there are more productive things I could be doing with my time. Instead, I want to discuss Remnant’s geography as it currently is. Specifically, there are three questions I want to test:

How well does the geography hold up?

Does the geography have a realistic influence on society?

How well does the show integrate foreign geographic features into its worldbuilding?

As a quick disclaimer, I’m not an expert on any of the aforementioned subsystems. And because I don’t have any canonical information on Remnant’s atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, or plate boundaries, it becomes impossible to prove or disprove the realism of its geography. For now, we’re going to err on the side of caution and assume that Remnant is a planet with a functionally-analogous lithosphere to Earth’s, and that Remnant’s features are byproducts of such a system.

The current geographic map of Remnant. It boasts five major continents (of which only four have been named) and multiple islands. | Source: World of Remnant, Volume 4, Episode 1: “Vale.”

How Well Does the Geography Hold Up?

To answer this, I used the Köppen-Geiger climate classification to categorize Remnant’s main landmasses (with the exception of the unnamed continent). This model organizes areas into distinct climatic regions based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The results I cobbled together are based on approximate latitude, ecosystems that we’ve seen in the show, canon maps, and comparisons between the continents and their real-world sources of inspiration (Asia for Anima, North America for eastern Sanus, Australia for Menagerie, etc). Here’s what I came up with:

SANUS: Tropical savanna (Aw/As), cold desert (BWk), cold semi-arid (BSk), hot-summer mediterranean (Csa), warm-summer mediterranean (Csb), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), hot-summer humid continental (Dfa), warm-summer humid continental (Dfb)

ANIMA: Tropical rainforest (Af), area of tropical monsoon (Am), tropical savanna (Aw/As), desert (BWh), hot semi-arid (BSh), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), subtropical highland (Cwb), hot-summer humid continental (Dfa), warm-summer humid continental (Dfb), subarctic (Dfc), Mediterranean-influenced subarctic (Dsc)

SOLITAS: Tundra (ET), subarctic (Dfc), ice cap (EF)

MENAGERIE: Tropical savanna (Aw/As), desert (BWh), hot semi-arid (BSh), humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa), temperate oceanic (Cfb)

VYTAL: Subpolar oceanic (Cfb)

This isn’t perfect by any means, but I think it satisfies some lingering doubt about the credibility of the geography. Sanus’ interior desert, for example, could easily be a cold desert climate. The exterior band of foliage on the northern and western sides appears to be indicative of a rain shadow effect caused by a mountain belt (the conditions necessary for creating this climate type). We have evidence of there being nearby western mountains courtesy of the earthquakes in Vacuo, [3] as earthquakes often occur near mountain ranges created by subduction boundaries. Similarly, oases (like the one once found in Vacuo) tend to form in cold desert climates as the result of rain shadows (similar to the el-Djerid oases near the Atlas Mountains).

All things considered, I’m inclined to give the climate regions a tentative pass. Like I said, they’re not perfect, but they seem to be holding up so far.

Does the Geography Have a Realistic Influence on Society?

Ehhh. It depends. With Vale it’s hard to say, given how little we’ve seen of the areas outside the capital (like the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall), and the fact that we haven’t visited any other cities in the kingdom. We know that Vale makes use of a massive port for trade and travel due to the nearby body of water. But there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly unique about the capital’s culture that can be directly attributed to its geography. Despite being a coastal city, it doesn’t have any signature delicacies derived from the abundant seafood. The architecture is largely generic urban-Western, and doesn’t incorporate the mountains in any way. Vale’s geography is little more than a convenient buffer against the Grimm.

Mistral, on the other hand, is heavily influenced by the geography. All of its houses and shops are directly integrated into the mountains, with an emphasis on vertical building to accommodate the limited space on the cliffs. Stairs, bridges, and electronic lifts are used for getting around the city. Unlike Vale, Atlas, and Mantle, which use motor vehicles, Mistral doesn’t have the space to accommodate modern roads, and instead relies on railroad transport (like the Argus Limited) to move around the continent. Compared to Vale, Mistral is a vast improvement on how well the writers used geography to influence the culture of a city. However, I still think the show could’ve done more to strengthen this connection. For instance, we see evidence of cave systems in Mistral, which briefly appear on-screen and are never brought up again. [4] Talk about wasted potential. Additionally, the show never addresses how the Council keeps its citizens from falling to death. No joke, the only place in the city that has railings is the safehouse where Qrow and the kids stay. What the hell do people do in the winter when the stairs and paths ice over? How do they not slip and fall and plummet to their deaths? And while I’m thinking about it, why doesn’t the city have a system of ziplines or ski lifts for getting around? Are native-born Mistrali people adapted to the lower oxygen found at higher elevations? And what about Mistral’s agriculture? Do farmers live outside the capital? How do they protect themselves?

Like I said, Mistral is better than Vale in this department, but it could still do with more worldbuilding.

Atlas and Mantle are more akin to Vale when it comes to noticeable geographic influence—or rather, a lack thereof. While the technology accommodates its residents via the heating grid, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of how the geography shaped the people of this continent. You’d expect a circumpolar indigenous group to have very distinct cultural traits, but there’s none of that. It’s just rampant technological growth. Now, you could argue that any aspect of geographic influence on culture was wiped out around the time of the Great War. But if the show wants me to believe that, it needs to show me proof. Whether it’s a conversation between two characters, or a political movement spearheading cultural revitalization. Something—anything—that might hint at how geography influenced pre-industrial Mantle.

And forgive me if I don’t feel like speculating about Vacuo, given that it’s only appeared in After the Fall and Before the Dawn. When the show decides to unveil it, then I’ll have more to say.

As for Menagerie? Another resounding meh. The inherent intrigue of a settlement that shelters aquatic Faunus is never fully explored. We get to briefly visit the Shallow Sea district of Kuo Kuana, but the scene is too focused on Blake’s and Sun’s conversation to let us fully explore the area. Which is a shame, because a concept like that could easily be taken to some really cool extremes. Like, what about entirely underwater settlements that are built on coral reefs? How cool would that be for Faunus that have gills, webbed appendages, or caudal fins? I’m not expecting Zootopia or anything like that, but it’d be neat if settlers had gone to creative extremes to accommodate the wide variety of Faunus traits.

How Well Does the Show Integrate Foreign Geographic Features into Its Worldbuilding?

In Volume 5 we’re introduced to Lake Matsu, an area rich with naturally-occurring superterranean Gravity Dust. What makes this place so intriguing is the fact that the Dust is in a constant active state, causing the islands to float in the air. Given that Dust is usually inert unless activated by an Aura, the existence of this place is frankly astonishing, and for the life of me I don’t get why the show treated it as little more than set dressing.

This phenomenon—which I’ve taken to calling a Dust vortex—has so much worldbuilding potential. What if Remnant had pseudo-ephemeral lakes created by concentrations of Water Dust? Or how about a cave system with an abundance of Electricity Dust that causes magnetic charges in the surrounding minerals, creating a place similar to Unova’s Chargestone Cave? Maybe Sanus’ southeastern desert has large pockets of Steam Dust that enshroud the area in permanent fog?

Dust vortices wouldn’t just be aesthetically cool, either; they’d have important implications for the lore. Let’s use Lake Matsu as an example.

If the Dust vortex has been there for a long time (upwards of thousands of years), then the organisms in this ecosystem would’ve adapted to it. You would have endemic wildlife—agamid-like gliding lizards, plants with wind-dispersed fruit, lianas and mosses draped from the underside of the islands, diving birds that nest on the outcrops, microbial detritivores found exclusively in the islands’ soil. Maybe Lake Matsu is an important stopover for migrating birds. Maybe the shadows from the overhead islands are important for predatory fish, which hide in the shade to ambush flying insects. Because the wildlife would be endemic to this ecosystem, perhaps the Mistrali government would designate it a protected area and prevent Dust companies from excavating the site. What if there were fishing towns on the shore that depended on tourism to sustain the local economy? Would they ever come into conflict with Dust companies that lobby the government to open up the area to selective mining?

I’m sure I must sound like a broken record at this point, but the worldbuilding possibilities on display here are nothing short of incredible. And the failure of RWBY to explore even a single one feels like getting repeatedly kicked in the stomach by a feral horse.

We’re now 3,000 words in and I didn’t even get to include ideas for tautological place names. It sucks, but sometimes you have to compromise and go with the idea that make sense to include, rather than the idea that exists just to be novel.

Sound familiar?

[1] Hello Future Me. “Avatar: A Study in Worldbuilding — the Fire Nation [ The Last Airbender ]” YouTube video. October 26, 2019. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2BD13VzxY&t=3s]

[2] Rooster Teeth. “RT Podcast: Ep. 191.” YouTube video. November 14, 2012. 7:52 - 12:01. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kymVnsIUWLY]

[3] Myers, E. C. RWBY: Before the Dawn (Book 2). Scholastic Inc, 2020. Online preview. “The city of Vacuo had some order to it, with different districts for residences and businesses, and a wide street down the center for the market. But the outer edges of it were periodically wiped out, because of sandstorms or sinkholes or earthquakes.”

[4] Volume 5, Episode 1: “Welcome to Haven.”

#deconstruction #worldbuilding #writing #geography

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tss-ragnarok-au · 4 years

Text

Chapter 1

Warnings: Blood, takes place just after a traumatic event, a few death mentions and jokes about dying, swearing

Word Count: 1,532 (I’m trying to keep the chapters relatively short so I can get them out on a regular basis)

Author’s Note: This has been a long time in the works. I’m kind of emotional sharing it, but don’t mind me. Welcome, and enjoy!

Generally, when your best friend shows up at your door, you don’t want them to be covered in blood. With this in mind, you can imagine that Logan was not entirely pleased when his best (and only) friend appeared exactly as such.

Up until that point, it had been your average apocalyptic Tuesday. Logan had been following his to-do list, which was most likely the only thing keeping him sane on his own. His family had decided to follow the theory most widespread on the internet and split up. If there weren’t so many humans in one place, maybe all the monsters wouldn’t notice them. This theory wasn’t scientifically proven, but then again, neither were any of the others. Scientists didn’t exactly have the… resources required to perform such experiments, and, because all of the mail had been shut down, they couldn’t keep accurate records of who lived, who died, or how. But with the internet mostly still up and running the Ateneos had scraped up the data from the most reliable resources they could find and run with it. Literally.

Logan’s father took his little sister Mercedes about a few thousand miles Northwest, his mother had taken Logan’s abuelo South, and last he’d heard they were still moving until they found someplace safe to settle for a while. Logan had been left to look after their little house. His family had figured they were going to give him a little more independence when he turned seventeen anyways. Odd how such things tend to work out. The airlines shut down the day after his birthday, so his family had stayed until the last moment they could, which ended up being around 10:47 a.m. and left him there. Alone. But it was okay, because Logan had his log and his to-do list.

Tuesday, July 2nd: To Do

Wake up (approximately 6 am)

Eat breakfast (1 slice of toast, 1 egg)

Read (at least 2 chapters, no more than 4 chapters)

Call Mami (remember to ask about her whereabouts, location apps still down)

Eat lunch (one serving, no matter what)

Paint (use moderation)

Send Mercedes a picture (yourself and/or the painting) and make sure her mental state isn’t suffering too much

Update Log

Check in with Patton (via text, see if he can come over tomorrow)

Practice Archery (set the net up first so you don’t lose arrows, be alert and aware of your surroundings)

Eat dinner (again, one serving exactly)

Research/practice knife techniques

Go to bed (approximately 10 pm, no bluelight after 9:30)

This had been going perfectly right up until it hadn’t. He’d gotten out the bread and peanut butter and had the raspberry jelly in his hand when a quick, loud knocking interrupted his lunch preparations. He held the jelly jar at an angle from which it could be easily used as a weapon and warily unlocked and opened the door.

That is when Logan Ateneo found what appeared to be his best friend splattered with something red that was most certainly not his beloved Crofters.

“Patton?” he asked warily. His friend’s eyes and smile were just a bit too wide and his skin was a bit too pale.

“Uhh..Last summer we rode the ferris wheel, I asked you what a cephalopod was and you told me all about them. When we were at the top you almost dropped your phone showing me a video of a mimic octopus.”

Logan didn’t have the best memory and Patton was speaking irregularly fast, but the absolute terror of his precious cell phone dancing nearly out of his grasp over a 213 foot drop, as well as the opportunity to talk about his beloved cephalopods had burned the incident into his mind. He stepped aside and let Patton in. One day Logan was sure he was going to wholeheartedly believe his friend was a shapeshifter or the other way around because his memory was such absolute garbage. That was how he would die. He opened his mouth to ask about… well, about a lot of things, but Pat spoke before he got the chance.

“I’m really out of it, and I can’t tell if I’m about to cry or puke but oh lord, one or the other is coming so I’m gonna try to get this all out before it happens. Okay? Okay. So I think maybe zombies or like, beta mer-zombies just attacked my house, I have no freaking clue where most of my family is, I’m like 90% positive they’re coming this way next, uhh I’m pretty sure you can drive and I can’t, and we gotta get out of here.”

Logan took a moment to mentally unpack all of that.

“Wait, the zombie creatures are coming now? As in at this exact moment?”

“Pretty sure”

“Then could you please explain why we’re still standing here?” Before waiting for an answer, Logan grabbed his dopey friend by the arm, making a mental note to figure out why he was acting this way later, and pulled him along as they ran to the car.

He couldn’t see anything as he rushed past, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He shoved Patton haphazardly into the passenger’s side before nearly breaking his own leg slamming the door as he slid into the driver’s seat. He reached over and buckled Patton’s seatbelt after his own as his friend stayed frozen in place. A distant growl made the hair on the back of Logan’s neck stand up. He hit the gas and everything from there was more or less a blur.

***

It wasn’t until they were on the highway that Logan calmed down a little and Patton brought up an excellent question.

“Hey Lo… Where are we going?”

Logan hadn’t thought that far ahead. He didn’t dare pull over but he let himself drop his laser focus for a moment to think about the answer. He was silent for a while. Then, a very… interesting idea came to mind.

“My uncle’s cabin in the woods.”

“That sounds like we’re gonna die.”

“Odds are, we’re going to die anyways. I am entirely serious. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, fairly distant, there are plenty of resources in a pinch, my uncle left a long time ago, and the last person there was his ex, who dropped off the map a few months ago.”

“You do realize how ominous that is, right?”

“Do you keep in touch with your relatives’ ex-boyfriends?”

“Eh….” It was clear Patton had drifted off again. Logan switched lanes to head towards the cabin, but his mind was working much faster, trying to figure out if Patton had some kind of rune cast on him, or if he’d perhaps suffered head trauma, or-

“Oh. I see.” Logan realized. He waited a moment for a response. His friend continued to stare out the car window, his fingers twitching in half-minded fidgets. “Pat?”

“What?”

“You’re in shock.”

“Huh. Wait-I thought…” The gears started turning in his head, “I thought you got that from wearing socks on the carpet…”

Patton then proceeded to burst into tears.

With the reading Logan had done on psychological shock, that was to be expected, as all of Patton’s emotions that he’d disconnected from had come flooding back with the realization. This information did not, however, give Logan an adequate way to deal with the situation.

He settled for awkwardly patting his friend’s hand and respectfully looking away.

***

Patton’s crying slowed to a sniffle just as Logan pulled the car from the paved road to a bumpy dirt path. They sat in silence for a while, bouncing over the rocks.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t lie to me.”

“Shit happened, I don’t think I can process it right now.”

This caused Logan more concern than the crying. Patton only swore when he really didn’t feel good.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Patton didn’t respond.

“Is,” Logan became quieter as he began to realize the severity of what had happened at Patton’s house, “Is everyone okay?”

Patton bit his lip and slowly shook his head. He hesitantly held out his hand, and Logan laced his fingers through Pat’s.

Squeeze.

They stayed like that until the gravel driveway crunched under their wheels. It led to what appeared to be a very nice cabin that had been left to suffer by Nature’s hand. Ivy covered one wall entirely, and had begun creeping across the front and back of the house. Moss crawled over the roof. Logan could spot at least three bird’s nests in various nooks and crannies. And that was just the outside.

Patton stared at it for a moment. Just as Logan thought he was about to remark something about the beauty of nature reclaiming and building upon what humanity had made of it he said,

“How fricking rich was your uncle? This thing is huge.”

Logan had just opened his mouth to respond when a howl swept through the trees, sending a shiver through his entire body.

“Perhaps, discussing things inside would be better?”

“I always have wanted to die in a cabin in the woods!”

Asks are now open for Logan and Patton!

#tw blood #tw death mention #patton sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides au #ragnarok!patton #ragnarok!logan #ragnarok au #ragnarok fic

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salmonid-ink · 5 years

Text

I want to talk about some ideas I have for Salmonid cities, and how they live.

Looking around the stages, we can see cities on the horizon. I theorize that these locations are Salmonid-owned, and I have a number of reasons for believing it’s so.

Their close proximity to stages that are decidedly in Salmonid territory. (Not to mention the clear fishing homes by the Lost Outpost.)

The areas we invade are in a restricted ocean zone, and there is a magnetic field that jams up an Inkling’s natural sensory organs, which would make it difficult for cephalopods to live there. It’s why you can’t use your map, and why Grizz needs to use a HONKING HUGE satellite dish to reach his workers and allow them to have a safe place to jump back to.

Being so surrounded by water, with tides that can shift at the drop of a hat, it seems like a perfect place for the Salmonids to make their homes. Having the ability to maneuver on land AND in water is such a useful thing these days. If it weren’t for the advent of firearms that can shoot ink, it’s possible that Salmonids would have taken over entirely by now.

With that final note, I want to suggest the idea that the cities that the Salmonids inhabit previously belonged to other creatures, but they were driven out by the Salmonids in search for new fertile land to live in. They have since changed and adapted the cities to their tastes. They will also inhabit ghost towns or locations that had been deserted or abandoned, even the likes of amusement parks. Wasting space and potential land is shameful in their eyes.

Due to their “waste not, want not” society, Salmonids will find use for just about everything, and they’re positively recycling masters. As a result their buildings are made from recycled materials, to the point of them looking a bit odd due to what some of them are made out of. They’ll use anything, including materials thrown out by Inklings, weaponry and machines scrapped by the Octarians, and even artifacts left behind by humans. It may not be pretty by any means, but it sure gets the job done!

Wealthier Salmonids live in the cities, and lower income Salmonids live in the suburbs, rural areas, and on city outskirts. Even with their society developing more and more with the assistance of Octarian tech and Goldie intelligence, many prefer a more rural life and there are plenty of fish who live out in the middle of the ocean. More often than naught these are self-made, self-sustaining fish that live off of the land or fishing, and trade/sell what they catch.

They have a heavy focus on trading rather than selling, with fishers trading their catch to farmers for their crops. Currency is certainly a thing for services and clothing, but when it comes to food and goods trading is the way! It’s also an effective way to import goods from other creatures and societies, as their money may not be universal. Power Eggs are so beneficial and great for trades!

Because of their high focus on food and desire to make the best use out of their land, nearly every home in suburban and especially rural areas will have at least a vegetable garden growing on it. Farming laws are pretty lax, so it’s not uncommon to see farm animals in the suburbs, too. The further away from the city you go the bigger the gardens and farms will get. Of course, towards the heart of the city it’s much much harder to maintain a garden. Some manage with smaller plants and pots, but it’s just not the same! Never mind trying to grow something major in an apartment... The Farmer’s Market is a miracle for those that live in the city.

Because of all the farming, even those living in the city are often still seen as “country bumpkins” to others, especially from the likes of Inkopolis. While there are a few Salmonids that don’t get their own fins dirty, it’s much harder to find a fish that could be considered a true “city slicker!”

Since there’s a focus on farming and trading, communities often work together and help each other out. Salmonids largely have a family mentality, often sticking close to relatives, but they do lend help to neighbors whenever that’s needed. They need to work as a team when Inklings come to invade, and this is reflected in their society!

Okay, let’s go over some of the pictures I took of their cities under the cut!

The Spawning Grounds. With the buildings, we can see a wall, what appears to be a highway, and a dam. What exactly the dam is for we don’t exactly know; we can’t see what’s inside of it. However we CAN assume that it belongs to the Salmonids, especially with the very obvious salmon decal printed on the side of it.

The Ruins of Ark Polaris. This time we can get a clearer shot of the city. I find it interesting that even though the Ruins has active bear sightings, the Salmonids still live there... But it IS their territory, so they’re going to defend it.

Beware the big bad bear!

Marooner’s Bay. This one isn’t city related per say, but it’s still in Salmonid territory. What does this factory do? I’m still thinking on that, but I really find it interesting.

Lost Outpost. Everyone knows about the houses next to the stage, but did you know you could also see a city on the horizon? I love this image because you can see both the fishing homes and the city in one shot. It’s nice!

That’s all I’ve got for now! Thanks for sticking with me through this monster of a post.

#Salmonid #Salmon Run #Splatoon #Other Headcanons #mod stinky

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megamanmodelaaa-fanstories · 5 years

Text

The Squidbeak Splatoon - Third Time’s the Charm Chapter 1: The Great Squidnapping

In the far flung future, centuries from our time…

The world is nothing but vast & endless oceans, as far as the eye can see. Aside from the deep-sea world, there was no life to be seen. However, if you look just a little bit further into the horizon… land!

At first glance, this bit of land looks unremarkable as monochrome colours dominate everything in sight. But it’s when you take a deeper look into this land that you see something different, something not at all what it appears to be on the outside.

Welcome to Inkopolis… to the City of Colour!

The streets, the markets, the residence, the city center, everywhere you look, there is a new colour to gaze upon. Bright or Dark, Plain or Mixed, Singular or Combined, every colour in the collective Palette is there to enjoy! This gives the residence of Inkopolis a sense of energy & enthusiasm all day long. At night, these same colours along with the city’s beautiful lighting give way to a dazzling view that invoke feelings of imagination & serenity.

The people of Inkopolis are full of various races that have evolved beyond their Cephalopod roots to live freely on land. Jellyfish, Horseshoe Crabs, Urchins, Prawns & most dominantly, the Inklings. Inklings are a unique Species of Inkopolis because they’re half human & half Squid who can change between the two forms at will.

Also compared to normal Squids, their Ink Production is faster & much more potent. They need to be for them to participate in Inkopolis’ most famous sport: Turf War.

2 Teams of 4 Inklings battle each other in a game of Territorial Control, where players must paint as much area as possible using special weapons that utilize their natural ink as ammunition. The more turf inked, the more points that team gets, with the winner being the team with the most turf controlled when time runs out.

Certainly, the City of Inkopolis is a land that embodies enthusiasm, energy, competition & interaction. A perfect blend for a peaceful & prosperous community! But that same peace & prosperity would soon come under threat…

One day, sometime before a special Turf War Event called a “Splatfest” was scheduled to begin, people on the streets were surprised by a breaking citywide broadcast. Callie & Marie, Inkopolis’ Top Pop Idol Duo, take the stage…

Callie: “We interrupt this program to bring you important news!”

Marie: “The Great Zapfish, source of all power for Inkopolis… has mysteriously vanished.”

Callie: “City Officials have released this picture showing a crashed UFO, which was taken around the estimated time of our Zapfish’s disappearance!”

Marie: “We encourage everyone to share any information about this UFO & others that may lead to the missing Zapfish.”

Callie: “Until the Great Zapfish is recovered, we advise Turf War Veterans to expect restrictions & limitations on battle scheduling, public or private… That includes the upcoming Splatfest, which is -as of now- on hold indefinitely.”

Marie: “Our sincere apologies for any inconveniences…”

Callie: “That’s all for now. Thank you everyone & until next time…”

Callie & Marie: “Stay Fresh.”

But the public was feeling anything BUT “Fresh”. Everyone was sent into a silent panic. Who could’ve done that? How did we not notice? What’s going to happen to us?!

The Great Zapfish is an entity as big as an observatory tower that is the main source of energy for the entire city. Even in its absence, Inkopolis can still run on reserve power, but that will only last for about 2-3 months at best. People throughout the city, for the next few weeks, would live in fear & hopelessness of having to leave in the near future…

Over a Month Later…

Inkopolis still runs, but it’s clear that the dwindling power has robbed it of its enthusiasm. There aren’t as many lights bathing the city as it used to, most have resorted to staying at home out of fear & a select few fled the city to find a new place to live. What was once a city of energy, is now slowly losing all signs of life. But somewhere within the center of Inkopolis, a small group of teenagers are still kicking hard in Turf War.

Day 1, Arowana Mall, 12:50-

8 Inklings are swapping ink against each other, one side Blue & the other Orange. 2 Blue Inklings holding an N-Zap & a Splat Roller push forward, jumping off the central hill in an attempt to claim more turf as the battle enters its final minute. Suddenly, one of them gets splatted out of nowhere, while the other gets echolocated as she attempts to escape. She gets splatted by an Aerospray on her way forward.

Aerospray Inkling: “Nice going, Miwa!”

Miwa: “You can thank me later, let’s push!”

Miwa is a 14 year old Inkling who’s considered of the most skilled on the turf; one of very few who reached the coveted S+ Ranking. She’s proficient with most weapons, prefers Chargers & despises Blasters.

The battle ends with a score of 57-39 for Team Orange. The winning team jumps for joy & exchanges high fives in celebration as a member of the losing team steps forward.

N-Zap Inkling: “Y-You all got lucky because you had a Charger on your side!”

Miwa: “(Ho boy, here we go again…)”

Aerospray Inkling: “Is that so? Wanna trade & see how it ends?”

Splat Roller Inkling: “Yes! Let’s rematch!”

But just as they were about to start, an official of the Turf War Management approaches them, saying they’ve reached the maximum allowed number of matches & they’re to leave immediately.

Splat Roller Inkling: “But… But that’s not fair; we’ve only had 2 matches. Isn’t the maximum limit supposed to be 5?”

Official: “New rules have been placed: 2 per group only, regardless of arrangements.”

& just like that, everyone packs their things in misery & returns to the City Center…

Inkopolis Plaza, 13:15-

Miwa sits on a bench drinking here favourite juice as she relaxes after being forced to stop battling on such short notice. As she throws her empty bottle in the bin, 2 friends arrive to join her.

Green Inkling: “Yo! Reached your threshold already?”

Miwa: “Let me guess: Reduced Turf War Capacity?”

Purple Inkling: “Yeeeah, what a pain…”

Miwa: “Relax guys, I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Can’t let those smiles turn upside down, right?”

Both of her friends look at her speechlessly, their expressions arched in worry…

Ever since the Great Zapfish’s disappearance, Miwa & several others have been trying to get some energy back into everyone by engaging in Turf Wars as much as possible, creating enthusiasm through tense competition & distracting the public from the crisis. But as the days went by with no sign of the Great Zapfish returning, their efforts soon fell to deaf ears & now, they’re slowly losing their battling privileges.

Purple Inkling: “Listen, maybe… we should go plan our move out & get it over with. I’m sure there’s plenty of land outsi—“

Miwa: “& give up on everything we have here?! Like it’s all worth NOTHING to us?!”

Green Inkling: “Girl, there’s not much else we CAN do. We gotta move on…”

Miwa: “I can’t… I WON’T allow…..”

A cold silence descends upon the 3 companions, as if to look for a way to challenge each other’s arguments, to challenge the very desperate situation they find themselves in. Yet sadly, quietness…

Then…

Green Inkling: “Gals look, it’s HIM again! Haha!”

Miwa’s green friend points towards the Vending Machines Corner, an old man sits under a manhole cover looking around as if seeking something.

Miwa: “*Again*??”

Purple Inkling: “Oh you’ve never seen him? He always shows up here between 13-14 o’clock for some reason. What is this bum doing? Hehehe!”

Miwa: “Heh beats me, I don’t live in the sewers myself!”

The 3 continue laughing as Miwa decides to take a picture of this peculiar man. Moments after she’d put her phone down, the old man starts looking directly at her, exchanging such a sharp gaze. Miwa stares in confusion.

Miwa: “(Why’s he looking at me like that? Did he catch me taking his picture? What’s wi—)”

Miwa’s friends tap her shoulder to say goodbye in a hurry. As soon as she turns to face the old man however, he was no longer there. She waits a little longer hoping to see him again, but he never does & Miwa decides to return to her apartment for the day.

Flounder Heights, 18:45-

Miwa sits on her desk working on whatever homework she has to finish, however little there was to complete due to the crisis. She couldn’t help but think about the old man she saw in the Plaza. With her curiosity soaring high & an idea for a gag in mind, Miwa puts her pen down & starts surfing the web for something similar to his outfit.

Suddenly, she comes across a startling discovery. While the old man’s outfit was nothing to write home about, the hat was EXTREMELY valuable: The Legendary Cap. A very special & rare headgear that only the best of Inklings were awarded with it for their services & bravery in the Great Turf War, 100 years ago.

A cap like this is IMPOSSIBLE to get, even with the help of the back alley dealers like Spyke!

Miwa: “(What was he doing with a hat like that! He couldn’t have stolen it… Is it a fake perhaps? &…) Why was he looking at me?”

One question lead to another, each without an answer. So, Miwa decides there was only one way to solve this mystery…

Day 2, Inkopolis Plaza, 13:40-

For the first time in over a month, Miwa didn’t take part in any Turf Wars. Rather, she spent her time waiting around in the plaza for the Cap wearing man. They look at each other from a distance for minutes on end, with Miwa waiting for the right opportunity to face him.

With each passing minute, she grows more tense. The old man was still looking at her & her alone.

Miwa: “(He’s not going to look anywhere else, isn’t he?... I need to find a way to distra—!!)”

& just like that, the old man vanished while she was looking around.

Miwa: “But it’s still 13:50 o’clock!”

She makes a mad dash for the manhole to investigate. No sign of him. There was only one way he could’ve escaped her sight…

Miwa: “Yuck… (Am I really doing this?...)”

Hesitation holds her in place, but not for long as her curiosity becomes too strong to bear.

She jumps into the manhole cover, unaware of what fate has in store for her…..

Unknown Area, 14:00-

After a unexpectedly long journey in the dark depths, Miwa finally emerges to find that she’s now FAR outside the city limits, tall cliffs & waterfalls encircle a bowl shaped area full of small islands, each with its own theming. The most distinct landmark is a giant sculpture of an Octopus at the highest peak.

Miwa continues to admire the scenery, until she finds the old man beside a small shack.

Miwa: “Hello, sir?... W-What am I saying?! Listen, I need to know whe—“

Old Man: “That look in your eyes…”

Miwa: “Wha??”

Old Man: “I’ve been waiting for someone like you! You’re just who we need to defeat the Octarians!”

Miwa: “Octarians? You mean the ones Inklings fought in the Great Turf War? Wait, are you some sort of military general?”

Old Man: “Absolutely! I’m Captain Cuttlefish, Leader of the Legendary Squidbeak Splatoon! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, welcome to Octo Valley.”

After exchanging introductions, the Captain moves on to explain what’s going on. It seems that he’s been investigating the Great Zapfish’s disappearance alone & has concluded that it was the Octarians’ who stole it, as revenge for their defeat in the Great Turf War 100 years ago.

Despite his best attempts, he wasn’t able to get anyone to believe his findings & is currently understaffed to do the job. This led him to try & find a capable Inkling from the streets of Inkopolis to help return the lost Zapfish, which is where Miwa comes in.

Miwa: “So, you want ME to help you recover the Great Zapfish?”

Cpt. Cuttlefish: “I won’t lie: It won’t be easy. We’re alone against an army. The best I can do to help you is provide telecommunication support & hide Mini Spawn Points around the valley, they will only save you so many times.

So, what will you do young one? Will you join me as my 3rd Agent on this covert mission?”

Most would take a step back to consider, but Miwa didn’t as she saw an opportunity. If she can do this, everything will be back to normal. She’ll take back her home, Turf Wars & bring back the Inkopolis she loves! Miwa turns to the Captain to give her answer, when…

Cpt. Cuttlefish: “I’ll take your silence as ‘Yes, of course I’ll help!’”

Miwa: “Wait What?!”

Cpt. Cuttlefish: “I’ll make the necessary preparations for you, so meet me again tomorrow at 12 o’clock!”

Miwa: “Wait a second!”

It was settled: Miwa will be the Squidbeak Splatoon’s Agent 3, on a quest to explore Octo Valley, stop the Octarian menace & retrieve the stolen Great Zapfish!

Will she succeed? What obstacles await her? Tune in next time for Chapter 2: Krak on, Agent!

Thank you for reading & have a good day! 👋🏻😄

#Fan Story #Splatoon #Agent 3 #Miwa #Captain Cuttlefish #Callie #Marie #Chapter 1

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superjumpintomyheart · 6 years

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Spoilers ahead!

YA GIRL JUST FINISHED THE OCTO EXPANSION AND I AM SO S H O O K

First off, I want to appreciate the cutscenes??? They were so good and they looked amazing, I was so so happy we actually got to see Pearl and Marina interacting with everyone and with each other that’s all I could have wanted. This whole expansion is just pearlina confirmed nobody can convince me otherwise lmao. The end scene where Marina tackle hugs Pearl and Agent 8 smiles at Agent 3 after they wake up is the reason I am alive, this whole thing is paradise for shippers (Even though the females are what I play as and what I head canon the agents to be I’ll use neutral pronouns for my male cephalopod friends out there)

THAT LEADS ME INTO MY NEXT TOPIC, we finally have backstories on off the hook! Like a lot of backstory on Marina specifically, from age six to sixteen, I love that they made her Japanese in game name her last name in the English version (does that mean Pearl’s last name is Hime?? @ Nintendo where’s my pearl backstory) and that she accomplished so many things like she was an e l i t e octoling but then the Squid Sisters perform and bam time to go AWOL. Also that amazing demo of Ebb and Flow is absolutely heavenly. A lot of theories I had were completely true like I’m pretty sure everyone knew about calamari inkantation setting the octolings free but hey now it’s actually what happened. I love Cap’n Cuttlefish and his ongoing joke of “Any fan of the inkantation is no foe of mine” he just loves his grandsquids so much he’s such a proud grandpa that their music is literally changing peoples lives.

This also clears up a lot of stuff about nobody caring that Marina is an octoling just chilling in Inkopolis, because the octo expansion is set during the time of the single player campaign of splatoon 2 so like the octolings are all finding their way up to the surface right as Off the Hook is becoming popular. Makes sense, smart move.

The chat logs were probably my favorite things in the game, and I did complete every level so I got the special bonus chat with Agent 2, which made me smile a lot. I love the pictures that Pearl and Marina sent in the chat!! Pearl always looks like a badass because she is one, and Marina and her adorable sleepy face I actually screamed a little when I saw them? The group selfie with all the idols was really cute too (speaking of selfies I LOVE THAT EIGHT TAKES A SELFIE WHEN THEY GET ONE OF THE THANGS WHY CANT I SEE THOSE SELFIES PLEASE). The mem cakes were really nice to collect and getting the full sets then talking to Iso Padre made my heart hurt a little bit, he would always talk about following your dreams and never to loose sight of them and I love him so much he’s the purest I wish we could take him up to the surface too??

Okay but like the battle with Agent 3 was suuuper trippy for me, since I’m a veteran of this game... I was fighting myself? How many identities do I have now? Im like three different agents all at once how does this happen. But I did love that battle, it was a bit surprising but I had seen people theorizing about it so it wasn’t too much of a shock. However, the phone being the final final boss was interesting, I kinda thought it was going to be C.Q because he was annoying as fuck through the whole time you were playing, seeing his text box say “You failed the test” was as frustrating as seeing Mr. Grizz’s textbox saying “Just 93 eggs? That’s a shame.” The cutscene when Three broke in to save Eight and Cap was beautiful and I loved it, perfection.

And now for some of my favorite (slightly incorrectly quoted) moments from this dlc

“Marina how do I make the chat full screen?” “Alt+F4” “Mc.princess has left the chat” “I can’t believe that worked.”

“♪”

“You were singing and then saw me and you were like ‘LETS START A BAND!’” “The first song you showed me was fire so I had to say yes”

“Wow this munchkin can rap!”

“You can... uh... be the hype man.”

Pearl whipping out a killer wail speaker and yelling booyah to save Inkopolis

Pearl calling Cap’n Cuttlefish ‘Cap’ and Agent 8 ‘Eight’

Marina’s poorly drawn MS paint diagram of how to save the world

“Mode: Turf War! Save Inkopolis from its impending doom!”

All the new Off the Hook songs

“This is from when we first met. Back in the day.” “Like yo! Wake up sleepyhead!”

“You were humming Calamari Inkantation while you were out, and any fan of the inkantation is a friend of mine.”

Every cutscene, every single one.

If you’ve played the octo expansion what did you think? Also how many of you guys are staying inkling? I personally am going octoling, I love the design so much and I love the wave that you get from Marina and Pearl when you’re an octoling! It’s so sassy and personal like I feel more like a friend to them than just a fan :,) This expansion is everything I could have wanted and more, it’s exactly what Splatoon 2 needed to step up its game from feeling too much like the first one.

Look forward to some octo expansion related fics coming soon! I’m tweaking the one I told y’all about last week, now that we actually know Marina’s backstory I can make her dreams more accurate to canon I suppose. Thanks for reading this long ass post if you did, I’ll see you around!

#splatoon 2 #spla2n #octo expansion #octo expansion spoilers #spoilers #pearlina #agent 8 x Agent 3 #im pretty sure their ship name is #agent 24

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kademaki · 5 years

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The Bottomless Blue - Chapter Five

Merman!Hux x Reader fic

based off of this au minus the hand gestures

Character A works as a janitor at an aquarium for the more “exotic” types of sea life. While cleaning up after closing, they meet the newest attraction. Character B, a merperson who communicates through hand gestures.

“And over here, we have what is commonly called the red-bellied eel. It was given that name because of its neon red belly. It was only discovered a few years ago so we don’t know everything about so maybe you kids will discover something new! But this is actually the last exhibit of the tour so after you take a look at this amazing discovery, feel free to wander around for a little bit before we close for the day.” You forced the enthusiasm into your voice as you led another tour through the aquarium. Usually, your job involved sitting at your desk and filing reports on the newly discovered creatures at the aquarium. Occasionally, you were tasked with helping with the observation of the new creatures but more often than not you found yourself looking at them while filing paperwork from your desk.

The aquarium only housed rare sea creatures. Almost all of the creatures were found using new technology that allowed scientists to get to new depths in the ocean that we previously uncharted. The deepest part of the ocean was home to many creatures that some deemed magical and mysterious because of how different these creatures were compared to ones found in shallower depths.

Sometimes management asked you to help clean up on days when the aquarium was packed and crowds had left it a mess after a new creature unveiling. Other times like today, they asked you to help give tours to help lessen the burden on the other tour guides. Even though you preferred sitting at your desk and filing reports and information about the creatures, you didn’t mind helping with the tours because you got to see people’s reactions to the newly discovered and rare creatures. Some people reacted with awe and wonder and others were completely shocked by the creature's appearance.

But secretly, what you loved most was helping clean up at night. It gave you a chance to be alone with the sea creatures and you loved being able to watch them in solitude. It was nice to be able to watch them without people tapping or banging on the glass and without the constant chatter of people. You thought it was peaceful and calming to watch these sea creatures swim past. You often wondered how they were in their natural environment. But in the past few months, that had changed. You loved the ocean but you hadn’t swum in open water for a few weeks after you saw something you couldn't explain in a shipwreck. You were sure you saw a man with a tail in a 1800s shipwreck, he had had sharp pointed teeth almost like a piranha. He had even saved you from getting ripped to pieces by a shark.

After seeing that, being around these creatures in the aquarium made you a little uncomfortable. Knowing that you were surrounded by strange creatures made you think about how maybe you didn’t know what was in the depths of the ocean. The man you saw actually had a tail but was he really a merman. Sure, merpeople were only legends that no one but children really believed in but how else could you explain him? You had seen him with your own eyes. You’d felt the strength of his tail as he’d carried you back to the shipwreck after the shark attacked you.

You worked in an aquarium that had exotic creatures just like him. Just a few months ago, an expedition crew had found a new species of octopus that was learning to make gestures to indicate what it wanted from its handlers. Common octopi on their own were very intelligent but this new species was on another level. It’s handler’s were amazed at its intelligence level and they discovered new things every day. If an octopus learning to communicate with humans was considered an average day here, why couldn’t the existence of a merman be possible?

↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭

The next week at work, everything was chaos. An expedition crew had made a discovery a few weeks ago and the aquarium was trying to keep it under wraps before the unveiling and the press wanted to get a picture of this new discovery to release to the public to increase their magazine sales. Even as a staff member, you were not privy to the details of their discovery aside from the knowledge that the director of the aquarium had immediately demanded a few of the larger tanks be emptied and the creatures they housed to be rehomed to make room for the new discovery. You had tried to catch glimpse of it but aside from helping to clean up the mess left by the scientists after their tests, you hadn’t seen much due to the large sheets placed over the aquarium.

New security perimeters were created to keep the general public back from the exhibit space as well as new security sensors installed to let security know if a rare fish or cephalopod had fallen out of the tank. Some of the tanks didn’t reach the ceiling so it was possible for some of the creatures to get too excited near the top of the tanks and accidentally splash their way out onto the floor.

Today, however, you were asked to help clean up alone since the other staff were feeling overworked from keeping the press at bay. This time when you had entered the back hall, the sheet was pooled on the floor in front of the glass. From what you could tell, the tank was empty, granted it was an enormous tank meant to hold large sea animals so there were depths that even you couldn’t see that extended well below into the basement levels of the aquarium. You stared into the tank trying to see around the man-made rock formations provided for the sea animals to hide in to see if the new discovery was simply resting inside but you could see nothing.

You sighed and turned to start your work cleaning the huge puddles water from the floor and collecting the broken test tubes and beakers. You had just finished sweeping up the broken glass and was adding soap to your bucket to mop the salt water off the floors when you heard a splash from the tank behind you. You whipped around to see the last thing you had expected. Bright red hair, a pale torso, and dark green tail, it was the merman from the shipwreck.

As your brain tried to process what you were seeing, the merman swam up to the top of the tank before letting out an awful noise. You grimaced and covered your ears as his terrible noises made your ears ring. After a moment, the noise stopped and you uncovered your ears and forced yourself to look up at him. He was propped up on his arms at the top of the tank, looking at you. He looked tired but it’s not like you had seen him except for the one time in the captain’s quarters. He considered you for a moment before opening his mouth again to reveal sharp pointed teeth.

“Wait! Please don’t make that noise again! It hurts my ears!” You yelled, covering your ears and hoping this merman could understand you. After a few seconds of silence, you looked up and saw the man staring at you. “...Can you understand me?” you asked incredulously.

“Obviously.” Your eyes widened in shock at his reply. “You humans think you are the only ones who can speak.”

“I didn’t know you could talk. I mean, I didn’t think mermaids were real. Doesn’t it hurt you to be out of the water like that?” Your brain was racing a mile a minute trying to process everything, was this really the same mermaid you saw a few months ago?

“Of course, we are real, where do you think the legends came from? As long as my tail is submerged every now and then, I will be alright.” He said rolling his eyes.

“Are you the same mermaid from the-” you started.

“From when you trespassed in my living quarters and tried to throw my belongings at me? Yes, you were quite rude that day.” He said, splashing his tail in the water behind him. “How would you like it if I came into your dwelling and threw your property around before running away? I also saw you getting dragged along by a shark and saved your life without so much as a thank you..”

“ About that first time, I’m sorry, you frightened me! How was I supposed to know you lived in the remains of that ship?!” you tried to defend yourself but all it got you was a laugh from the merman.

“You knowingly came into my den. Did the lack of fish in the area not alert you to my presence? It was clearly marked as mine.” He said adjusting his perch against the edge of the glass, now leaning further out of the tank. “You ignored all the signs and were surprised to see me in my own den. Typical of a human. I should have expected nothing less.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you took offense to his dismissive tone. It’s not like you knew you were wandering into his house.

“It means humans really believe they are the only intelligent beings in existence. Clearly, they are not. It explains how you failed to notice the warning signs. Everyone knows if there is an absence of fish in an area, it points to there being a much larger predator picking them off.” He flicked his tail again and you found yourself staring at it in awe. The deep green color looked iridescent in the light, you had never seen anything like it. “Has anyone ever told you that it is rude to stare?” He scoffed.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that, I’ve only heard legends of mermaids. Aren’t you supposed to live in a cave? Why do you live in a shipwreck? You aren’t actually supposed to be real. Your tail is just...I can’t believe it's real…” You trailed off still entranced by his tail. You’d seen it up close when he saved you from the shark and when you’d cut him loose from some fishing nets but seeing it like this when you hadn’t just narrowly escaped death was different.

“Of course, the legends are real. Just because humans decided to stop believing doesn’t mean we stopped existing. You’d be surprised with what you humans have forgotten exists. Only a few of you remember us and you build places like this to imprison us for your entertainment until we die.” He dropped back deeper into the tank before resurfacing without taking his eyes off of you.

You weren’t sure what to say to that. You didn’t think of the rare sea fish and creatures here as imprisoned. Sure the enormous tanks weren’t the same size as the ocean but most of them were spanned the height and length of the building. “You aren’t imprisoned here, this is a discovery center. The expedition teams only want to learn about new life forms in the depths of the ocean…” You trailed off as the merman gestured to the dark band encircling his neck.

“If I am not a prisoner then why is this around my neck?” he said leaning even further over the glass so that now he was practically pulling himself out of the tank. That’s when you noticed that he had a collar around his neck, it looked like one that dog trainers used to shock dogs when they were too lazy to train them properly. But this one looked like the scientists had crudely put this one together.

As you stared at the collar around his neck, you recalled how the staff had been holding off the press all day to keep them from the new exhibit. Was he really the new exhibit they planned to display in a few weeks? You looked at the broken test tubes that you had swept into the dustpan then at the merman’s arms. You could scratches and bandages where they had presumably taken blood samples from him. You knew they could be a little rough when trying to take samples from a specimen but from the scratches on his arms, you knew that they had to have brutalized him to cause such damage. You realized you were staring when the merman cleared his throat. You met his eyes and he gestured to your own arm.

“Oh yeah, I guess I should thank you for saving me from the sharks that time. I don’t know what I would have done without you so thank you for saving me.”

“If you hadn’t avoided all the warning signs, you wouldn’t have need saving.” He stated with another flick of his tail.

“Hey! I did help free you the from those fishermen’s nets that time! You should be thanking me too!” You shot back in a huff. “How did you end up tangled in those anyway?” The merman looked away from you.

“One of my friends was caught in your trap. I had to get him out before you came to collect your traps. That and it’s easier to get fish from the nets than it is for me to catch them myself.”

“You risked getting caught by fisherman to get some free fish?” you said incredulously. “I thought by being a mermaid, fish would just listen to you, why risk being so close to humans?”

“Just because I am one of the merpeople doesn’t mean we can control the fish around us. Besides, would you want to force fish to swim to you so you can eat them?” You had to give him that, using your mind to tell fish to come to you so you could kill and eat them didn’t seem like the most fun. “Anyway, the fish were an afterthought. But once I was tangled, I found it challenging to escape until you came along.”

“Yeah, you weren’t exactly calm when I was trying to help you.” You said as you adjusted your grip on the mop in your hand.

“I was more worried about being found in the net by the fishermen than I was hurting your feelings.” He huffed and eyed you from the tank. “It seems I shouldn’t have put in much effort to escape since I was caught by your friends anyway. Tell me, did you purposefully send them to capture me or was it a lack of critical thinking that sent them my way?”

Your mouth dropped open in shock, how dare he accuse you of aiding the research team find him. “I didn’t send the research team to you! They were headed to a cave near the shipwreck anyway and I couldn’t just tell them not to go without giving them a reason. It would have been more suspicious if I had!” You felt your annoyance growing as the merman’s eyebrow quirked.

“They were the ones who ransacked the cave? Interesting.” you watched his face as he seemed to ponder this information before speaking again. “Since it seems my capture was not entirely your fault-” you opened your mouth to protest as he gave you a look “I apologize for accusing you. But I can’t stay here in this prison and have these scientists run tests on me. They’ve already taken enough blood from me and I don’t care to be poked and prodded more than I already have.” You nodded in agreement.

“What do they want with you? I don’t think they’ve ever found anything like you before so they probably want to keep you for more tests and experiments. Security has increased but I had no idea that it was because you were being kept here.”

“Well, then I need to find a way out as quietly as possible. I’ve already started making a plan but I need your help...will you help me?”

You nodded. “You saved my life before. Tell me what I need to do.”

Tag List:

@songforhema

@agirlinherhead

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gcvalas-blog · 5 years

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hi babes! i’m syd (or squid, you with the face, you know, whatever, i’m not a picky cephalopod) and i’m hella excited to be here! i’m very new to the whole, structured group rp concept on tumblr thing, so this is all basically a series of new experiences that i’m pumped to have with you all! anywho, if you wanna plot, come slide into my dms, either just in general or to get my discord i’m a paranoid cephalopod so i don’t wanna like, just have that sitting out where just anyone can find it !! without further ado, i give you jack!

[ michael vlamis, cisgender male, he/him, 27 ] FREEDOM by DOROTHY? whenever i hear that song, it reminds me of JACKSON “JACK” GAVALAS. maybe because they’re FREE-SPIRITED but also RECKLESS. they’ve been living at mulberry apartments since OCTOBER of 2018 in APARTMENT 507 and have 1 ROOMMATE**. ( LANDSLIDE, COME OUT AND PLAY) [ syd, they/them, 18+, pst ]

BASICS:

Name: Jackson Bennett Gavalas Nickname(s): Jack, Gavalas Age: 27 Birthday: July 7, 1991

BACKGROUND:

he spent most of his early years an only child, growing up outside of baltimore

his mom was never really in the picture. he doesn't know too much about what went down between her and his dad, but she gave full custody of him to his dad and vanished when he was just a few years old

his dad remarried, and jack found himself with a brand new baby sister (@ftspcncer) he absolutely adores to this day

he wasn't a bad kid, though he could be a little hotheaded, and chasing the next adrenaline rush sometimes had him returning home sporting some new scrape or bruise

he was and is a total nerd, though. he was on the robotics team in high school, and if his family had had the money to send him straight to university, he'd have been a mechanical engineering major

as it stands, he did well enough in school that he got scholarships from the colleges he applied to—they just weren't enough to offset the cost, and he wasn't going to put their family into debt if he could help it

instead, at eighteen, fresh out of high school, he enlisted in the navy—at first a five-year commitment as an engineman, which he then re-upped for another three years—and remained until he felt it was time to do something else with his life, upon which point he moved to baltimore proper

if you asked him why he enlisted, he'd say it was a way to jump-start his life without having to worry so much about the cost of it all, which would be true, but he also did it seeking adventure

he went out of his way to keep in contact with his family, sending emails, letters, postcards, and the occasional trinket from his travels, as well as doing his best to fit in regular skype and phone calls. and if he had more than a few days leave, you bet your butt he was coming home to spend time with his family

he's had some hiccups in adjusting to civilian life, still less than a year out of the navy. he's up at odd hours, sometimes, and the loose structure of day-to-day life (even with him taking community college classes as a full-time student) without specific checklists of duties can get daunting. those especially are the days he'll disappear into the gym or spend all day just driving so he can get out of his own head for a bit

PERSONALITY:

he's a thrill-seeker (always has been) and a fan of just being outside. he was the kind of kid who climbed trees and just kind of laughed it off if he fell out, and shrugged off most injuries. he's also the kind of guy who got his motorcycle license very shortly after his regular driver's license, had worked his ass off saving up for his own bike, and very happily used it as his preferred mode of transportation

he likes having other people around, even if he's not talking to them. jack and quiet spaces don't mix well—he'd rather go to a crowded park or a bar to do work for class than sit in a library

don't get me wrong, though, he's the grumpiest mofo without his coffee, or if he doesn't get at least three or four hours of sleep (or a combination thereof). he's a morning person out of force of habit, not of his own volition, and it's glaringly apparent when his equilibrium is thrown off

he can also get irritable if he's having a particularly bad tinnitus day. he hates having to ask people to repeat themselves, but sometimes he has to, and it puts him in a bad mood

he tries very hard to be an optimist with a positive outlook on life, which is absolutely hilarious when coupled with his foul mouth. he does his best to keep it to a minimum (or, rather, he tries to keep it on the tamer end of things, at least) but sometimes an f-bomb slips out in the middle of a perfectly good sentence in what might be considered 'polite company'

he can be a goof. he loves life and wants to just have fun with it. he is absolutely your best bet if you're trying to find a friend to go on a 2 am trip through the city for ice cream, or if you want to drag someone along to hit up every thrift store in the city (but also like, never play pool against him. he will hustle you, and he might not give you your money back once you realize he's actually really good)

he also has a huge heart. he makes friends easily and tries to make time for anyone who needs him around

that being said though he's kind of a commitmophobe. he draws the line at anything beyond fwb, especially after opening his heart to a guy he thought he really had something with who never called him back (who is one of his connection songs ;3)

on a related note, he has a heavy preference for dating men, though he's equal opportunity when it comes to bedfellows

he's just a huge puppy you guys (a friendly german shepherd puppy who cannot be left unsupervised because he'll get himself into some kind of mischief)

ADDITIONAL (random) FACTS:

for a smart guy, he can be kinda dumb when it comes to technology, especially social media. he only has facebook down because he joined not too long after he enlisted, because it was the best way of keeping in touch with people coming and going with their deployments and stationings (someone pls teach him what twitter and instagram are)

he's still not quite used to cooking for himself. tv dinners and other microwavable goodies all the way, with the occasional boil-able frozen food thrown in (he'll get there eventually, he just doesn't often remember he has to make food until he's too hungry to go through the work of preparing a meal from scratch)

he has both the best and worst fashion sense. he's perfectly at home in steel-toed boots, snug jeans and a leather jacket, but he's also regularly wearing truly gaudy, loud print button-ups. it's kind of a signature look, at this point

he’s a baseball fan. he played club most of the way through school, and still kept up with the world series while he was deployed

he has days where he desperately misses being at sea. he has a hammock hung by the window in his room for the days he really needs to feel something similar to the sway of a ship on the waves, but other times he has to be down in the harbor, feeling the wind on his face and listening to the sounds of a busy port

he’ll answer to gavalas about as fast as if not faster than he will jack, and will answer to either a hell of a lot faster than he’ll answer to jackson

he picked up an infrequent smoking habit while in the navy. if you ask him, he'll say he's “pretty much” kicked it, especially now that he's out, as he was mostly a social smoker, but if you searched his room, you'd probably manage to find either a few loose cigarettes or part of a pack, which he's usually gotten off of someone else

#soundintro #this may have gotten away from me a lil bit #anyway come plot!! i promise i don't bite <3333

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pantless-thundergoose · 5 years

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Someone stole my octopus

For context, my job for the past few weeks has been, to put it mildly, soul sucking with a side of “god fucking damnit, what did Day shift do now? And why does my shift have to fix it?” Throw in three straight months of mandatory weekly overtime, and what you get is a group of grumpy, exhausted goblins posing as Security Officers.

One of the posts we have to man during business hours is a security podium/checkpoint where we do fun things like sign in visitors and contractors, check in/out the daily temp workers, and constantly remind permanent employees to display their employee badges. While this post can get busy at times, for the most part it is extremely boring. Internet surfing and cell phones are prohibited (though the more savvy officers have figured out how to peek at our phones on the sly), no reading material, no crosswords, etc. It can get mind numbing. Lately, one officer has taken up doodling little pictures and leaving them in the cubbies, or drawers, or taped to the computer monitor.

One such doodle was of a happy cartoon octopus that was left in the box where people can drop their contractor/visitor/temp badges. Whenever you took a peak through the slot on top of the box you would catch a glimpse of it’s joyful little face smiling back at you and waving a tentacle, and when you opened the box you were treated to the full view of it dancing with it’s happy fish friends. I found this little fellow quite delightful, and for the past couple of weeks, every time I checked the box for badges, there it was, smiling and waving back, reminding me that it’s not all bad, and bringing me and other officers a brief little moment of joy. Such a good little cephalopod.

And then tragedy struck. My day did not start well. It was what my shift affectionately refers to as a “boots before pants” kind of day, meaning things just kind of get sideways for whatever reason and your whole rhythm gets thrown off. I overslept, which means I had to skip my workout, breakfast prep was a bit of a disaster, and I put on my work boots before my pants (hence the term). Once at work, I headed to the security podium to start my shift. Out of habit, I always check the badge box first thing because I can’t trust Day shift to do their jobs. After a rocky morning, I was looking forward to being greeted by my little tentacled friend. Peek in the box and...nothing. Just an empty void. No smile, no little wave, no fish friends, just emptiness.

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I let out a rather loud growl of outrage before turning on my hapless day shift officer and demanding “Where is my octopus!?”

“I...um, I don’t know. He was gone when I got down here,” was the nervous reply. Seeing my rage, he continued, “I checked the drawers and the garbage can, but I couldn’t find it.”

Seeing as the poor man had no idea where the doodle had gone and honestly seemed saddened by it’s absence, I wished him a good evening and set about searching for my little buddy. Sadly, he was nowhere to be found. Disappeared without a trace. My small bit of joy gone, just like that.

I am both saddened and outraged. What monster in my own department would commit such a heinous crime? I demand justice! I demand retribution!

BRING BACK MY CEPHALOPOD! JUSTICE FOR TERRY TENTACLES!

#seriously bring him back #don't make me go Taken on your ass

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wickedbananas · 6 years

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What Do Dolphins Eat? Lessons from How Kids Search

Posted by willcritchlow

Kids may search differently than adults, but there are some interesting insights from how they use Google that can help deepen our understanding of searchers in general. Comfort levels with particular search strategies, reading only the bold words, taking search suggestions and related searches as answers — there's a lot to dig into. In this week's slightly different-from-the-norm Whiteboard Friday, we welcome the fantastic Will Critchlow to share lessons from how kids search.

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

Video Transcription

Hi, everyone. I'm Will Critchlow, founder and CEO of Distilled, and this week's Whiteboard Friday is a little bit different. I want to talk about some surprising and interesting and a few funny facts that I learnt when I was reading some research that Google did about how kids search for information. So this isn't super actionable. This is not about tactics of improving your website particularly. But I think we get some insights — they were studying kids aged 7 to 11 — by looking at how kids interact. We can see some reflections or some ideas about how there might be some misconceptions out there about how adults search as well. So let's dive into it.

What do dolphins eat?

I've got this "What do dolphins eat?" because this was the first question that the researchers gave to the kids to say sit down in front of a search box, go. They tell this little anecdote, a little bit kind of soul-destroying, of this I think it was a seven-year-old child who starts typing dolphin, D-O-L-F, and then presses Enter, and it was like sadly there's no dolphins, which hopefully they found him some dolphins. But a lot of the kids succeeded at this task.

Different kinds of searchers

The researchers divided the ways that the kids approached it up into a bunch of different categories. They found that some kids were power searchers. Some are what they called "developing." They classified some as "distracted." But one that I found fascinating was what they called visual searchers. I think they found this more commonly among the younger kids who were perhaps a little bit less confident reading and writing. It turns out that, for almost any question you asked them, these kids would turn first to image search.

So for this particular question, they would go to image search, typically just type "dolphin" and then scroll and go looking for pictures of a dolphin eating something. Then they'd find a dolphin eating a fish, and they'd turn to the researcher and say "Look, dolphins eat fish." Which, when you think about it, I quite like in an era of fake news. This is the kids doing primary research. They're going direct to the primary source. But it's not something that I would have ever really considered, and I don't know if you would. But hopefully this kind of sparks some thought and some insights and discussions at your end. They found that there were some kids who pretty much always, no matter what you asked them, would always go and look for pictures.

Kids who were a bit more developed, a bit more confident in their reading and writing would often fall into one of these camps where they were hopefully focusing on the attention. They found a lot of kids were obviously distracted, and I think as adults this is something that we can relate to. Many of the kids were not really very interested in the task at hand. But this kind of path from distracted to developing to power searcher is an interesting journey that I think totally applies to grown-ups as well.

In practice: [wat do dolfin eat]

So I actually, after I read this paper, went and did some research on my kids. So my kids were in roughly this age range. When I was doing it, my daughter was eight and my son was five and a half. Both of them interestingly typed "wat do dolfin eat" pretty much like this. They both misspelled "what," and they both misspelled "dolphin." Google was fine with that. Obviously, these days this is plenty close enough to get the result you wanted. Both of them successfully answered the question pretty much, but both of them went straight to the OneBox. This is, again, probably unsurprising. You can guess this is probably how most people search.

"Oh, what's a cephalopod?" The path from distracted to developing

So there's a OneBox that comes up, and it's got a picture of a dolphin. So my daughter, a very confident reader, she loves reading, "wat do dolfin eat," she sat and she read the OneBox, and then she turned to me and she said, "It says they eat fish and herring. Oh, what's a cephalopod?" I think this was her going from distracted into developing probably. To start off with, she was just answering this question because I had asked her to. But then she saw a word that she didn't know, and suddenly she was curious. She had to kind of carefully type it because it's a slightly tricky word to spell. But she was off looking up what is a cephalopod, and you could see the engagement shift from "I'm typing this because Dad has asked me to and it's a bit interesting I guess" to "huh, I don't know what a cephalopod is, and now I'm doing my own research for my own reasons." So that was interesting.

"Dolphins eat fish, herring, killer whales": Reading the bold words

My son, as I said, typed something pretty similar, and he, at the point when he was doing this, was at the stage of certainly capable of reading, but generally would read out loud and a little bit halting. What was fascinating on this was he only read the bold words. He read it out loud, and he didn't read the OneBox. He just read the bold words. So he said to me, "Dolphins eat fish, herring, killer whales," because killer whales, for some reason, was bolded. I guess it was pivoting from talking about what dolphins eat to what killer whales eat, and he didn't read the context. This cracked him up. So he thought that was ridiculous, and isn't it funny that Google thinks that dolphins eat killer whales.

That is similar to some stuff that was in the original research, where there were a bunch of common misconceptions it turns out that kids have and I bet a bunch of adults have. Most adults probably don't think that the bold words in the OneBox are the list of the answer, but it does point to the problems with factual-based, truthy type queries where Google is being asked to be the arbiter of truth on some of this stuff. We won't get too deep into that.

Common misconceptions for kids when searching

1. Search suggestions are answers

But some common misconceptions they found some kids thought that the search suggestions, so the drop-down as you start typing, were the answers, which is bit problematic. I mean we've all seen kind of racist or hateful drop-downs in those search queries. But in this particular case, it was mainly just funny. It would end up with things like you start asking "what do dolphins eat," and it would be like "Do dolphins eat cats" was one of the search suggestions.

2. Related searches are answers

Similar with related searches, which, as we know, are not answers to the question. These are other questions. But kids in particular — I mean, I think this is true of all users — didn't necessarily read the directions on the page, didn't read that they were related searches, just saw these things that said "dolphin" a lot and started reading out those. So that was interesting.

How kids search complicated questions

The next bit of the research was much more complex. So they started with these easy questions, and they got into much harder kind of questions. One of them that they asked was this one, which is really quite hard. So the question was, "Can you find what day of the week the vice president's birthday will fall on next year?" This is a multifaceted, multipart question.

How do they handle complex, multi-step queries?

Most of the younger kids were pretty stumped on this question. Some did manage it. I think a lot of adults would fail at this. So if you just turn to Google, if you just typed this in or do a voice search, this is the kind of thing that Google is almost on the verge of being able to do. If you said something like, "When is the vice president's birthday," that's a question that Google might just be able to answer. But this kind of three-layered thing, what day of the week and next year, make this actually a very hard query. So the kids had to first figure out that, to answer this, this wasn't a single query. They had to do multiple stages of research. When is the vice president's birthday? What day of the week is that date next year? Work through it like that.

I found with my kids, my eight-year-old daughter got stuck halfway through. She kind of realized that she wasn't going to get there in one step, but also couldn't quite structure the multi-levels needed to get to, but also started getting a bit distracted again. It was no longer about cephalopods, so she wasn't quite as interested.

Search volume will grow in new areas as Google's capabilities develop

This I think is a whole area that, as Google's capabilities develop to answer more complex queries and as we start to trust and learn that those kind of queries can be answered, what we see is that there is going to be increasing, growing search volume in new areas. So I'm going to link to a post I wrote about a presentation I gave about the next trillion searches. This is my hypothesis that essentially, very broad brush strokes, there are a trillion desktop searches a year. There are a trillion mobile searches a year. There's another trillion out there in searches that we don't do yet because they can't be answered well. I've got some data to back that up and some arguments why I think it's about that size. But I think this is kind of closely related to this kind of thing, where you see kids get stuck on these kind of queries.

Incidentally, I'd encourage you to go and try this. It's quite interesting, because as you work through trying to get the answer, you'll find search results that appear to give the answer. So, for example, I think there was an About.com page that actually purported to give the answer. It said, "What day of the week is the vice president's birthday on?" But it had been written a year before, and there was no date on the page. So actually it was wrong. It said Thursday. That was the answer in 2016 or 2017. So that just, again, points to the difference between primary research, the difference between answering a question and truth. I think there's a lot of kind of philosophical questions baked away in there.

Kids get comfortable with how they search – even if it's wrong

So we're going to wrap up with possibly my favorite anecdote of the user research that these guys did, which was that they said some of these kids, somewhere in this developing stage, get very attached to searching in one particular way. I guess this is kind of related to the visual search thing. They find something that works for them. It works once. They get comfortable with it, they're familiar with it, and they just do that for everything, whether it's appropriate or not. My favorite example was this one child who apparently looked for information about both dolphins and the vice president of the United States on the SpongeBob SquarePants website, which I mean maybe it works for dolphins, but I'm guessing there isn't an awful lot of VP information.

So anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this little adventure into how kids search and maybe some things that we can learn from it. Drop some anecdotes of your own in the comments. I'd love to hear your experiences and some of the funny things that you've learnt along the way. Take care.

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reds-revenge · 7 years

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im feeling evil so ALL THE LOCATION ASKS

>:( probably Josie anon, do you know how many times I gotta switch pages now? I’m kidding you’re cool mobile just sucks.

*deep breath* here we go

Amsterdam: yeah, I think so. I’ve always been the weird one, usually in a nice way but I’m still the weird one. I kinda sound like a robot when I’m tired, or trying to accomplish something, and I guess that’s not how all people think?? Anyway.

Athens: ahaha I’m not a perfectionist, I’m the PLATONIC IDEAL OF A PERFECTIONIST. Listen okay I will sink as much time as I need to get it perfect, that’s happening less with the depression bc I just can’t get it up to my standard, I’m trying to make this a Growing Opportunity and learn to set Attainable Goals, but it usually ends with me panicking instead. Ah well

Belgrade: my mother had a loooong list of names and my dad tried to mock them all, they only kept ones that you couldn’t really make weird nicknames for, one of my friends took that as a challenge and called me Kira the Mirra (like mirror) for a year, it was interesting

mom called my kiramodo dragon bc of some noise I made when I was a baby. I thought my name was baby for a while bc they called me Baby Kira my Deara. Then I decided I wasn’t a baby and dubbed myself Kira my Deara the Kid.

Berlin: well for that I’d have to KNOW what I what. I can usually do whatever, but I would really like is absolute certainty about things like do I exist, am I hurting people by existing, etc. and that’s just not something we get in this life. It’s :) so :) fun :) :) :)

Bratislava: it doesn’t have a firm genre, there’s a lot of oddly philosophical themes for something that’s mostly sci fi/ comedy, but there’s also bildungsroman elements bc life amiright, and what’s science besides a mystery?

The protagonist is Done™ with everyone including herself, there’s cephalopods.

Brussels: I’m not fluent in all the languages I borrow from but yeah I do this a lot, I’m a language nerd. I did it more often when I was younger and still liked learning Latin.

Bucharest: NOT ON PURPOSE OKAY, WE’D KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE WE WERE FIVE SO ALMOST TEN YEARS AT THE TIME, I THOUGHT OF HIM AS MY BROTHER, WHY THE FUCK IS HE WRITING EMO STORIES ABOUT KISSING ME WE WERE S I B L I N G S.

I don’t think of him as family anymore but not bc of the ~*drama*~, I learned some Things and grew Wise. (Well, wisER)

Budapest: maybe, I was five, my love was unrequited. We ended up being friends bc in such a small class whatcha gonna do? We didn’t talk about that fiasco for ten years, turns out that whole declaring my love to the class thing was pretty awkward for him. Whoops.

Copenhagen: outside of old, distant relatives, no. I haven’t actually kissed someone romantically before at all, and I don’t have a desire to. I’m not saying I wouldn’t ever someday, I just haven’t sought that kinda thing out.

Dublin: between being a minor and being an obsessive rule follower, that hasn’t happened. I doubt I ever will, losing even the slightest bit of control over myself terrifies me

Helsinki: now this is interesting. I’m guessing this is referring to romantic love, but it doesn’t SAY that.

Look, I wanna be a scientist. Like really really wanna be a scientist, always have, always will. This sounds cliche but I feel like I was made for the sciences, I really do.

but I gotta go with love. Not romantic necessarily, just in general. And this isn’t a “well I’d better choose the Virtuous thing.” Like, I feel made for science, but science doesn’t mean anything if you’re not using it for something. Neither does art for that matter. Idk, but without love–for my family, my friends, for squids, for God–i just don’t see the point of this whole life thing. So yeah, I’m going with love

Kiev: YES AND FRANKLY I’D CHOOSE THE KNIFE EVERY TIME. I’m not gonna tell you EVERYTHING EVER THAT WAS SAID TO ME bc that would take way too long but yes, yes I have even when they weren’t trying to be knife words

Lisbon: I’m honestly not sure, like I like Hamilton’s America but I hate Trump’s, also I’m really drawn to the British isles and honestly France and Polynesia and India and Russia are all cool, so like I don’t feel like I belong but I might not belong anywhere if that makes sense? Idk tbh

Ljubljana: not really, I sound like my mother over the phone and if you look at baby pictures without the hair showing Greta and I get mixed up (not by family by friends) I have kind of distinctive hair, so.

London: Google says this is thinking vs feeling basically so I gotta go sense (thinking)

Luxembourg: I REGRET EVERYTHING and I often regret things deeply, like really stupid things bc of ~*damaging theology*~ but now mostly because ~*Ocd*~ (I think idk I guess maybe knocking that board over really will send me to hell, I’ve been spinning over this for YEARS)

Madrid: ALL THE TALENTS but maybe speaking fluent French, juggling, and playing guitar if you want some specifics

Moscow: No. I mean when else would I do all the thinking? Not during the day when I’m half asleep, surely.

Nicosia: whenever I’m nervous or exhausted which is most of the time now tbh

Oslo: HAhahahahaha this is hilarious. I’d like absolute 100% certainty that everything is 100% okay, always has been, and always will be. I don’t know what okay even is here but I know that 100% certainty does not exist and also everything probably isn’t okay, and EVEN IF I KNEW THIS I would still be nervous for some hellish reason, I don’t think I’ll ever actually have peace of mind :/

Paris: I mean yeah, but not more afraid than I am of most things. I guess I’m more scared I’d mess it up somehow

Podgorica: HELL YEAH. I mean, I’m curious about death and franklyitwouldntbeterribleifigothitbyasnipertomorrow @ the government, but setting that aside I’ve been raised on stories of people dying, dying for good or evil but for what they believe and I was kinda scared when I was little that I’d chicken out and surrender to the fascist government or whatever but I won’t, I’ll just do the thing, follow the rule same as any other. And even if my beliefs are wrong we’re all gonna die anyway, so

Prague: not really, no. I’ve got a good family, a good church for once, I’m heading to running start next year to study what I want, I don’t really have something to be jealous of.

I mean I’d like my brain to work but I’m not *jealous* of people who’s brains do the thing, I’m happy for them I just would like to be like that too

Reykjavik: A TINY FLOATING ISLAND COUNTRY I COULD PARK WHERE I WANTED I MEAN I DOUBT I’M GONNA MOVE PERMANENTLY OUT OF AMERICA BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS HARD AND MY FAMILY’S HERE BUT I DON’T LIKE ABSOLUTE RULES WHERE I DON’T NEED THEM

Riga: I would take as many selfies as I had to to get one I only kinda hate, I would post that one. (Yeah this is specific but I’m waiting for the technicality police over here, I totally would tho I don’t really care)

Rome: yeah but not romantically. I mean this is gonna sound weird I’m sorry but once in a blue moon I get an overwhelming sense of God and His love for me, that sounds cheesy or fake or something but I’m too tired to not be painfully honest rn

Sarajevo: TO INFINITY AND BEYOND. I wouldn’t do whatever they asked me to, I’m not gonna sign my mind over bc they’re human too and not always right and maybe the stakes are high etc, but if they need something I'ma do the thing at any cost of time, resources, sanity, etc. to myself I’ve got no boundaries here

Skopje: I honestly don’t know?? I’ve been called a lot of sweet things by a lot of sweet people and I remember EVERY SINGLE ONE and honestly I don’t think I could choose one, they’re all sweet in different ways, you know?

Sofia: not in a physical way, women are shockingly treated differently from men in Puritainville, but most people were fine with me in general if I didn’t touch certain buttons. Everyone had different buttons but never said what they were until whoops! It was fun :)

Mental health is also a super fun topic in Puritainville if you were wondering, someone told my mom when I first pulled out of school that I didn’t need a doctor, I just needed a book on Grace, because clearly my theology was why I couldn’t talk and slept fifteen hours a day

Also being Anglican was interesting, I tried explaining the whole icon thing and Lent and via media but it fell on deaf ears

I dunno if this is prejudice related or not but some guy called me a Pharisee when I was seven bc I told him off for making it impossible for me to follow the rules, he was trying to make us scared to teach us about God’s grace, you can imagine how well tiny Kira handled that

wow okay well I guess that’s a yes then

Stockholm: UNFORTUNATELY

In middle school everyone wrote stories about their thinly disguised classmates, and then in ninth grade creepy mcbadideas wrote stories about me saving him from his life basically and then him saving me from depression with a kiss, it was weird

and then Mom has used the whole family for story ideas

Tallinn: I can’t recall a rumour I’ve heard about myself, I’m very open. There were certainly rumors about me being ~*liberal*~ but that was actually true so idk.

I’d like to hear some though, I’m so out there already it’s gotta be entertaining

Tirana: no??? I’m honestly not sure what sexy is but everyone else seems to? Mom swears boys look at me–she’s usually telling me how not to die at a bus stop when this comes up– but I don’t notice anything

Valletta: thankfully no, at least not a big one. The worst I’ve injured myself was when I kinda timed a jump over a brick wall wrong and took out a chunk of my shin.

Vienna: I gave this one A LOT OF THOUGHT but I don’t think there’s like one song that totally captures my life, I definitely identify with songs but there’s not one single song in part because I’m still trying to process my life, you know? Fit things into the correct slots. Until I do that–if that’s even possible–i won’t have just one song. Sorry!!

Vilnius: yeah, why not? If it’s not like a permanent thing bc I have issues with permanency then it’d be cool, if only to get another point of reference for how things are done

Warsaw: i AM a depression lol. I thought two years was about as long as major depressive episodes lasted but I guess not, or maybe I was misdiagnosed idk

Zagreb: I’ve certainly given my TRUST to people I shouldn’t have, I’ve given my FRIENDSHIP to people I shouldn’t have, but I don’t think I’ve ever given someone my heart when I shouldn’t have.

Zurich: not at all. It’s a means to an end, you need it for college and food and stuff, but outside of that I really don’t care. I’ve been trying to figure out how we could restructure society without money and keep it fair and not suppress individuality and keep everyone taken care of it’s an interesting thought experimentTHERE I’M DONE I hope you appreciate that that took me a couple HOURS JOSIE I love you but WOW am I glad that’s over

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inklingleesquidly · 7 years

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LEE SQUIDLY’S NEW GROOVE

After a long, agonizing recovery of performing the Charge Shot, Lee Squidly has given up on Turf Wars– leaving him with virtually nothing going on in his life.

That will all turn around when a chance encounter, watching family friend Coral dance ignites an interest in Lee he never imagined he would have. What will he learn from her? And what will Coral learn from Lee?

See a new chapter begin in Lee’s life, and see what new challenges he gets ready to accomplish before the events of Splatoon 2

Co-starring @yundarigods‘ Coral and featuring her big sister, Faviidea

Word count: 4,454

“–And then I said to her ‘If you think I’m gonna pass up a deal like this just because the translators are getting all flustered than ‘alors vous avez une autre chose à venir’!” Janine concluded a story in which she recounted one of her many dealings in the world of television

Her tale was met with hearty, uproarious laughter, “AH HA HA, HAHAHAHAHA, oh Cod, Janine, no one ever pulls one over on you.” The laughter came from Faviidea; a friend of Janine who welcomed the older woman into her modest apartment for a friendly chat. She slapped her knee and laughed so hard she nearly spilled the wine glass full of drink she clutched in her hand.

Janine confidently replied, “Ohh you better believe it,” she took another sip of the zesty beverage in her own glass. She had brought two things with her to meet Faviidea that day; one was a bottle of fine cider given to her by one of the foreign television producers she met during that meeting. The ingredients were grown, processed, and bottled at the producer’s private farm. “Isn’t that right Lee,” she gestured to her son, whom she had also brought along to the meeting.

“Heh-eh,” Lee chuckled nervously, “Trust me, you can’t.” If there was anyone who knew how difficult it was to fleece his mother, it would be him. He sat on the cloth love seat beside her; quietly listening in on the conversation.

Faviidea felt concerned though; he seemed to come without any entertainment and listening to two old ladies talk and drink couldn’t have been very exciting. She tried to involve the youngster wherever she could but still asked, “Are you all right Lee, this isn’t too boring or anything, is it?”

He shook his head, “No Miss Favii, I’m fine, really.” Neither he nor his mother said but he came along on his own accord as he didn’t have much else to do. Ever since recovering from his accident he stopped playing Turf Wars so Sundays without Squad Practice became rather humdrum. He got his weekend homework done as soon as possible and his friends were usually too busy on Sundays to meet him.

It was rare for Lee Squidly to have nothing to do.

Faviidea rolled her eyes at being called ‘Miss’ but she said, “Well, all right then. Anyway, so this happened to me the other day; I was at work and this customer—“

Her story was interrupted by the sudden opening of the apartment’s front door. “I’m home, Favii,” a voice came from just out of eyeshot.

The Inktoling woman readily greeted, “Welcome back Sis, come on in, we got company!”

“Ohh-ohh, we do,” the new arrival questioned apprehensively.

Encouraging them, Faviidea answered, “Yeah, come and say hi.” There was a brief pause thereafter, and the three cephalopods took notice of someone just barely peeking around the bend of the entrance to the room.

When it seemed like she confirmed the identity of their guests, the younger sister of the household walked in. “Ohh, hi Janine, hi Lee,” she greeted with a sincere smile and a happy wave to both of them.

“Hi Coral,” they both said; Janine smiled and waved with her fingers before taking another sip of her drink, and Lee waved with his whole arm.

Coral’s shoulders dropped slightly as she let out a little sigh, glad and relieved that it was the Squidlys; close friends of her family that came to visit.

Faviidea summoned her with a wave of her finger, “Come sit with us, have a drink.”

Janine nodded, “Yeah Sweetie, take a load off.”

“I’m sorry Janine,” Coral respectfully declined, “But I need to practice so I was just going–.”

“–Ohh that’s right,” Faviidea interrupted with a snap of her fingers. She remembered; “You’re gonna be dancing for the Spring Equinox Festival, right?”

Lee and Janine remembered that the arrival of Spring and Fall were celebrated by Octarians as it signaled the cycling of crops farmers could grow in Octo Valley.

Confirming, Coral nodded, “Mm-hmm, I don’t want to disturb you so I’ll just practice in my room and–.”

Once again she was interrupted by Faviidea who giggled and brightly suggested, “Jee jee, hey I got an idea, why don’t you show the Squiblys what you’ve been working on?”

This intrigued the mother and son but Coral seemed reserved about the idea. Her eyes went wide and she nervously peered off to the side, stuttering, “Umm—well—uh-huh—umm, Favii, I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Faviidea clicked her tongue and replied, “Come on, why not? You perform all the time.” Despite her sister’s coercion, Coral just stood there, tapping her fingers against her purse and shifting her eyes from one side to the other. She never told Faviidea but she was only relaxed in front of crowds because she had practiced day in and day out long before she appeared on stage. That way she could do her dance routines even in her sleep.

Janine proposed, “We’d love to see it; have you ever seen an Octarian dance before, Lee?”

“At school, a long time ago,” he answered, barely able to recall the memory. “I wanna see, but if you’re too nervous, you don’t have to.”

He was being considerate of her feelings which made Coral smile but Faviidae still urged, “Just trust me, they’ll love it.”

“Well,” Coral inhaled deeply then exhaled in a long sigh, “Huu—okay, I’ll do it!” She gave into her sister’s urging. On her retreat to her room she called out, “D-don’t go away, I’ll be right back,” and left to prepare.

A short time later Coran returned; this time adorned in a beautifully designed kimono. Janine whispered to Lee that the style she wore was traditional to Octo Valley and different from the kind seen in Eastern Inkopolis. She also mentioned that the way she wore the garb and how she tied the belt was absolutely picture perfect. Coral gave her cell phone to Faviidea to connect it to their small speaker dock so she could have music to dance to.

With that; her impromptu recital began. Old timey Octarian acoustics guided the Inktoling as she rhythmically twisted and turned. With her feet covered by the long garment it looked as though she was gliding along the carpet while she fluidly waved and swayed her arms.

Every part of her moved in perfect harmony with the music. From every tilt of her head down to the most minor movement of her fingers and toes, the music flowed through her. Lee’s and Janine’s eyes were glued to her; they were captivated by her performance. They were especially taken aback by a shift in the melody that cued Coral to produce a pair of paper fans from within her sleeves. They seemed to come out of nowhere which baffled the mother and son but made Faviidea candidly smile.

She incorporated the fans into the remainder of her dance; swinging and waving them about and fluttering with them as she danced about.

Her performance soon came to a close with a finish that made Lee and Janine lean back and go silent until Faviidea put her glass down and began to clap for her sister. They joined shortly after; Janine stood up and applauded while Lee whistled and cheered. Faviidea encouraged, “Way to go! That wasn’t so bad, was it?” 

“No,” Coral breathlessly smiled from ear to ear, “No it wasn’t.”  She brushed one of her tentacles out of her face; more out of breath from nerves as opposed to tiredness. She nodded to Lee and Janine, “I hope you two will come to the festival, I’ll have my dance perfect by then.” Next, she said to her sister, “Well uhh,  I’ll be in my room for a little bit.” 

Faviidea answered, “No problem,” and watched with a satisfied smile as Coral practically bounced with exhilaration back to her room. When she left, Faviidea returned to the conversation with Janine, “So anyway, here’s what happened, I was–.”

Her words droned into nothing in Lee’s head. He just sat in awe, still seeing Coral dancing in his head; he was still utterly captivated by her performance. Unable to get the vision out of his head, he suddenly got an idea; an idea he NEEDED to act upon.

He stood up, interrupting, “Miss Favii, can I please use the bathroom?”

In response, Faviidea’s lip curled in irritation; she didn’t like that he kept calling her ‘Miss’ but he was polite so she put it out of her head. “Sure, it’s down the hall,” she instructed, excusing him from the conversation. He followed her directions but took a detour to another room along the way.

Without thinking he opened the door to the room, barging in without knocking and called out, “Coral!”

“Eek,” the Inktoling shrieked, quickly whipping her head around as she covered her front with her arms. Her kimono was slipping down her body so she tried to grab it while desperately blathering, “Lee—get out—please!”

Suddenly realizing what he did, Lee sucked in his breath and babbled, “Eee—I’m sorry—I’m—I’m—!”

“Just close the door and let me get dressed,” Coral ordered, holding her garment with one hand while trying to cover up as best as she could with the other. Lee did as he was instructed, shutting the door to let her have privacy, and to take time to fully comprehend the idiocy of his actions.

Moments later, he heard her voice; “Okay Lee, you can come inside now.” Slowly, timidly, he peeked in. He saw her kimono neatly hanging on a hook attached to the outside of her closet door, and Coral, herself, dressed in a long terrycloth robe, sitting at her vanity table.

Before Lee said anything else he profusely apologized, “I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to, I should’ve knocked, I didn’t—please don’t tell my mom!”

Coral halted him by holding up her hand. She sweetly reassured him, “Lee, it’s okay it was just an accident, I won’t tell your mom or anything.” She knew he didn’t have malicious intent so she wasn’t mad. After he relaxed, she asked, “So what’s up? Want to show me more of that game you’ve been playing?” Even though Coral didn’t particularly like video games she did like watching Lee since he got so excited about them. She quite liked this one about ghosts that he was currently obsessed with.

“Actually there’s something I wanted to ask you,” he had something else in mind.

“Ohh, what’s that,” she was genuinely curious; she couldn’t imagine what he could want from her of all people.

Lee didn’t hesitate, “CAN YOU TEACH ME HOW TO DANCE,” he blared out his request with all the excitement he had.

Thinking that she was hearing wrong, Coral squeaked, “Kuh—what?"

"Please Ma'am, I want to learn how to dance,” Lee repeated, the sparkle of wonder not leaving his eye as he restated his request.

Coral couldn’t believe it; sure she did love to dance, it was one of her greatest passions, however she doubted how good of an idea this would be. She suggested, “I don’t know, wouldn’t you feel better taking a class from an actual instructor? Also, don’t call me 'ma'am’."

"No way,” he replied, not wavering for a single moment. “Just—watching you was really really amazing, you’re so good, I umm– I-I want to learn how to do that kinda stuff, too!” He couldn’t completely explain it, especially without stuttering due to his brain being unable to catch up with his mouth. Lee wanted to learn, pure and simple.

Tapping her finger against her cheek, Coral murmured unsurely, “I dunno, I never taught anybody before.” She had never even entertained the idea of giving dance lessons. Not only that, she had her hang ups about people watching her when she wasn’t fully prepared to be seen.

Despite her reservations she knew he wouldn’t take no for answer, unfortunately. He really wanted this, and he wanted her help to make it happen. Coral couldn’t help but smile at that so she answered, “You know what, sure, I’d love to teach you to dance."

Lee couldn’t help but squeal in delight, as silly as it was, he was so excited! "Thank you, thank you, thank you, I promise, Ma'am I’ll try really hard!"

In response, Coral rolled her eyes and shook her head; "Stop calling me Ma'am,” she said under her breath. He was being polite but she didn’t like being called that; it made her feel old. Putting that aside, Coral picked her phone up from her vanity desk and sent a text message to Lee. “Meet me at this address tomorrow and we’ll get started on your first lesson."

After a quick skim of the directions and time, Lee said, "I’ll be there!” With that, the joyful boy left, his feelings of exhilaration lingering about in the room. It gave Coral a strange sense of anticipation; one that bewildered her for the rest of the night.

The following afternoon, Lee arrived at his destination, lucky enough he had been there previously. It was Madame Tiidae’s Dance Academy; Coral’s family was friends with one of school’s dance instructors so without a class going on she gave Coral access to one of the classrooms.

He greeted Coral who he found stretching at a ballet bar mounted to the wall. “I’m sorry I’m late, Ma'am,” he groaned, "I met a friend at the train station and I kept trying to tell them I had somewhere to be.“ The sounds of his soft steps on the sprung floor bounced all over the empty room as he approached his teacher.

She replied, "Lee, don’t worry about it, you’re actually a few minutes early—and don’t call me 'Ma'am’.” After he set his backpack down, Coral took a deep breath and reminded, “Like I said, I never taught anybody before so please, be patient with me, all right?"

Lee simply smiled, "You’ll do great, I know it!” He had so much confidence in her which put Coral a little bit at ease, “Now, what can you teach me first?"

Tapping her finger against her chin, Coral realized she hadn’t actually planned that, much to her dismay. In her mind, she quickly began to cobble together what could loosely be described as her lesson plan. "Let’s try—some basic exercises to uh—see how you are at this—kind of thing."

First was a simple test of stepping in rhythm to see how he could follow a beat. Coral was confused at first when he giggled and asked, "Is this the part where we start kicking?” She didn’t understand but none-the-less she clapped her hands and had him follow her timing.

Surprising to her, he kept in step, and even adapted well enough when she changed the speed. “Good job,” she praised, “Let’s see if you can follow these steps; watch me closely.” She performed a short series of steps for Lee to mimic. “Need me to show you them again,” Coral asked before stepping back.

“No,” Lee said, looking to be deep in thought, “I think I got it.” He showed by mimicking her movements exactly.

Coral nodded approvingly; then she gave him another set of steps, then a second, and a third, each increasing in the number of motions to remember. Lee managed to do them all without stumbling once.

"Wow,” Coral gasped while engaging him in another exercise. She was wagging her index finger, counting a beat while Lee followed with steps she instructed him to perform. “You’re a pretty fast learner,” she said eagerly.

Lee exclaimed, “Kinda, I just pay attention real well.” He gave a laugh as he mused, “Heh-eh If I could take notes then I’d be totally set."

As nerdy as he suddenly realized that was, Coral still thought it was funny. "Fee fee,” she laughed, holding her hand over her mouth, “Well, dancing is a bit too 'hands-on’ to be taking notes.” She stepped toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She said, “If there’s one problem though—that I think we should work on– it’s that you’re too stiff." Though nervous to give her critique, Lee wasn’t upset by it. She continued; lifting his arms to loosen him up, "Dancing takes your whole body so you gotta move everything!"

Lee gave her directions a try; beginning to move his arms along with his feet. The constant movement of multiple things was a bit too much for him, and it caused him to lose balance, nearly tripping. "Woop, oop,” Lee fumbled, catching himself. “Sorry,” was all he could say.

Coral stepped in, “Don’t worry, you’re fine,” she comforted, pushing him up by the shoulder to help him regain his stance. “Let’s try this,” she suggested, positioning his arms so he held onto hers, and she held onto his. “Do the steps with me and feel how I move my arms,” she instructed, beginning to move. Lee did the same, looking down for a moment to prevent from stepping on her feet but Coral proposed, “No, no, no, don’t look down, look at me. If you keep looking at me,” she suggested, “You’ll pick up the cues better."

"Gotcha,” Lee replied; a slight surprise to Coral that he was following her directions so willingly and keenly.

As she moved and swayed with him she commented eagerly, “You’re picking this up really fast, are you sure you’ve never done this before?"

Lee sucked in the air and his cheek while his lip curled into a lopsided smile. He said, "Actually—when I was a kid my mom and I took dance classes together."

"Really?"

"Yah-huh,” Lee nodded, “It was a lot of fun, heh-eh, I guess I kind of always wanted to do it again.” Memories came back to him of how much he enjoyed that time in his life with his mom.

Coral also commented, “You’re pretty quick on your feet to."

Mumbling for a moment under his breath, Lee revealed, "Well when you have to run away from stuff as much as I do, you gotta be."

Coral couldn’t help but furrow her brow and puff out her cheeks at hearing that. “Right,” she grumbled; cruelly reminded of how much her friend dealt with bullying.

She couldn’t understand; Why would people mess with such a sweet kid like him? Another thought came to her, But then again, my sister always said the same thing about me.

The thought of the bond they shared caused her annoyance to fade only for them to be interrupted by the door to the classroom opening out of nowhere. A tall anemone girl peeked her head in and gasped, "Ohh, Coral, you’re here?"

Looking back toward her, Coral turned and answered, "Hi Sandy and yeah I am, you said I could use this room."

"No I didn’t,” she mumbled before fishing out her phone from her purse. Lee and Coral watched as she scrolled through something before letting out a frustrated grunt, “Ahh shoot, I did, sorry girl but I forgot I had a class today and they’re coming in five minutes."

"What,” Lee and Coral unintentionally replied together; knowing the other classrooms in the dance academy were booked for the time, their lesson was prematurely over.

Coral knew she couldn’t be mad at her friend; use of the room was a favor after all. Her friend was also a bit of a scatterbrain so this wasn’t the first time she made a promise without completely thinking it through. Coral said, “It’s fine, it’s fine, well Lee, I guess we’ll have to take this up some other time."

He looked at her dissapointedly and was about to voice his displeasure when Sandy said, "I’m surprised, I thought you were teaching him from square-one but—say, did you finally decide to take my offer to represent the school for the city’s couple’s dance competition?!"

This caught Lee off-guard and was confusing to him but Coral rapidly answered, "Oh no, no, no, no way; I’m just teaching him is all.” Though he still had a lot of questions, Lee nodded; confirming the extent of their involvement together.

Sandy gave a defeated shrug, “Well suit yourself,” she sighed, “Still, take this flyer and think about it won’t ya?” She took a piece of paper from her purse and handed it to Coral. As she and Lee collected their things, ready to leave, Sandy offered a parting thought, “Besides, anyone taught by you will dance like they’ve done it their whole life."

As they were leaving, Lee skimmed over the flyer and asked, "The dances for this are the Waltz, Tango, the Foxtrot, and the Cha Cha; can you teach me them?"

He looked at her hopefully, only for Coral to enthusiastically reply, "Of course I can."

Lee gave a laugh, "Heh-eh,” and returned to studying the sheet of paper, “Well, if you entered this with somebody you would totally win it!"

While appreciative of his confidence, Coral explained, "I don’t think so, I love to dance, but I’m not really a competitive type."

"Me too,” Lee agreed, “But I feel like—I feel like I really wanna—.“ He paused to think, only for his face to completely light up. “Ma’am, I think we should enter,” he finally just blurted out.

Taken aback, Coral gulped, “W-what, and don’t call me ma’am,” she mumbled.

He reasoned, “I just feel like we should enter, I feel really-really confident about it,” more certain than he had been in a lot of things in his life. He punctuated his excitement by tightening his fists and looking at her with a twinkle in his starry eyes.

Holding her hands onto her purse and having a skeptical look on her face, Coral breathed, “I don’t know I just don’t think it’s a good idea."

Lee could only pout, he had a feeling he knew why she couldn’t, "If you don’t want to, I understand, I mean if you wouldn’t wanna dance with an amateur who’d make you look bad, I get that."

Coral gasped, he was being self-deprecrating yet that wasn’t the case at all. "No, no, no,” she said, “It’s not you at all—it’s me."

"Huh, how could it be you when you’re amazing at this,” he wondered.

Her hands fidgeted, and she tried not to look him in the eye as to avoid answering the question. How could she explain to him how massively self-conscious she would be under such circumstances? The thought of other people; judges, professionals, and people who probably danced longer than her watching her, and having to worry about possibly making her partner look bad—it made her knees shake.

Finally, she explained her feelings as best as she could, “Just thinking of all those eyes on me, it makes me really nervous."

She watched Lee’s head bob slightly, he seemed like he understood. He replied, "Well—I would be nervous too so hey, we could be nervous together!” Coral couldn’t believe her ears; that was so silly but it was one of the single sweetest things someone had ever said to her.

“Fee fee,” she silently laughed, covering her lips with her hand. That didn’t stop her from doubting the idea; she had other problems she needed to address. “Even then, I- I wouldn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable dancing with me."

"Huh?"

"In a lot of partner dances you have to be close with your partner, like, touching-close."

Lee merely shrugged, "Well if that’s what you gotta do than what’s the problem?"

He’s not getting it, Coral thought, How innocent is he?

She struggled to explain, "Well, you see, I–,” her hand hovered over her chest; there was one other major hang-up she had about herself besides her talent and that was her body. Her sister always joked that all the growth that should’ve gone to her height went to ‘other places’ and it internally and externally caused her grief her whole life. All the comments she got and stares; there were many times when she frankly felt ashamed about herself.

Lee was so nice; he never made comments or seemed to notice her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, and she didn’t want him to start. "-I just don’t want you to feel weird around me, okay,“ she repeated.

He gave her a look like he still didn’t understand, and he really didn’t. "Well if it makes you uncomfortable, I don’t want to force you to but I promise if we did I’ll work really hard, I’ll practice the steps every night, and I’ll listen to everything you say! I wanna do this real bad,” he shook his fists as he said that, “So please Ma'am, gimme a chance, please!"

He really does want this, Coral thought; gazing into his eyes and seeing a burning fire in them. It was radiating so strongly that she felt her heart begin to quicken, and strangely her inhibitions about herself were slowly but steadily fading as well. It was so weird; he was a teenager but he was showing enthusiasm akin to a small child—like her when she was first learning to dance as a young girl.

She loved to dance so much and maybe; if she could pass that love onto him, this would all be worth it.

"You’ve really got me in a bind here, Lee,” Coral rested her hand on her hip and smiled, “But okay, for you, I’ll give it a shot."

He was so elated that he breathlessly gasped, "You mean it?! Ohh thanks, Ma’am; I promise I won't dissapoint you!"

Coral’s lip quivered and her eyes squeezed shut as she let out a grumble within her throat. "I know you won’t, but before we start,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. If they were going to see each other more often, there was something that needed to change.

She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, imploring, “Will you please stop calling me 'ma'am’?"

Her pink lipstick lingered on his face; strongly framed by the changing color of his flushed skin. "Ye-Ye-Yes, I’m sorry, Coral,” he stammered, fastly giving into her whims.

“Perfect,” Coral chirped happily, glad that 'ma'am’ business could finally be put to rest. She playfully fluffed his hair and said, “We’ll get started tomorrow, text me when you get out of school and we’ll start practicing."

Lee stammered, "Ye-yeah, YEAH,” though he was still flustered, he was ready and raring to go, to learn to dance and compete with Coral.

As for Coral; she had a long way to go with her bashfulness, but she was glad someone like Lee understood her.

#splatoon #fan fiction #nintendo #lee squidly #squidly stories #yundarigods

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